


Teamwork

by Reader115



Series: Promise series [4]
Category: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TV 2012)
Genre: F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-20
Updated: 2016-04-20
Packaged: 2018-06-03 08:03:39
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 22,613
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6603196
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Reader115/pseuds/Reader115
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Begins a few months after 'Transitions' - The Hamatos receive a new request for help. 4th story in a continuation series. Warning: Fluff and T-cest. I don't own the turtles.</p><p>Originally posted on FF site from Jul 30, 2015 - Aug 11, 2015</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

"Raph, on me!" Leo called out. He heard Raph skid to a halt behind him and then felt Raph's shell bump into his shell.

"I'll get on ya, Fearless," Raph muttered back to him. He smiled when he heard Leo huff out a sharp breath.

"Mikey, behind you!" Donnie called out, swinging his bo.

Mikey swung his nunchucks and flipped backwards, blocking one of their opponents from advancing towards Leo and Raph.

Leo swung his katana low and reveled in the sound of metal hitting metal as he stepped forward to push the enemy back. He could hear Raph fighting behind him as well. The invaders were getting too close. He tensed suddenly when he spotted Akito out of the corner of his eye.

"Mikey, grab Akito!" he called out.

But it was too late. Akito used his own katana to disarm one of Mikey's nunchucks before he spun around and bent forward enough to allow one of his bunny teammates, the one Leo now knew to be Violet since she started wearing purple ribbons on her ears, to use Akito's back as a spring and gain enough leverage to jump up over Leo and grab the flag tied to a branch above Leo and Raph's heads. Violet landed in a roll on the other side of them and darted off with it.

Akito and the other bunnies disappeared seconds later.

"Did we capture a single one of them?" Donnie asked.

"Nope," Mike said, picking his chucks up off the ground.

"Stop looking so smug, Fearless," Raph said, elbowing him. "This was a loss for yer original team."

"But did you see the teamwork?" Leo asked, his grin wide. "Did you see Akito disarm Mikey? And the coordination of that jump?"

Raph only shook his head at Leo and left him behind as he began walking back towards the farmhouse with Mikey and Donnie.

They reached the front porch where Akito and the bunnies were already receiving congratulations from their human spectator family members. Raph reached over and picked Machi up off of April's pregnant lap and watched Leo head over to Usagi and Master Splinter to review the efforts of Akito's team that he hadn't seen since he'd been directly involved in the capture the flag exercise.

He grinned to himself at Leo's obvious pride in his tiny students. Their fearless leader would find a way to squeeze in a training exercise during their family weekend at the farmhouse, but at least he had made this a fun one.

Raphael bent down to Akito and congratulated his little fox son with a smile and nudge to the shoulder. He watched as Akito looked completely uncomfortable from the praise he was receiving from his aunts and uncles and thought how similar his bashfulness was to Leonardo's.

Leo, Usagi and Master Splinter joined them then as well and Leo wasted no time in scooping Akito up and giving him a hug as he told him how impressed he was with his efforts to coordinate his tiny team.

Mikey finished wiping some dirt of his nunchucks before strapping them back to his belt and headed to where Woody sat on the porch.

"I love watching you with those things," Woody said, smiling at him, "even when they get knocked out of your hands by your tiny nephew."

"Dude, he's not that small! He's grown like half an inch since he joined the family," Mikey said in mock protest. He pulled Woody up off the porch and herded him inside to help him cook dinner.

Master Splinter settled into a rocking chair next to April while Leo challenged the rest of the group into a race down to the water to cool off. He laughed as Akito and the bunnies took off, wasting no time to jump into the pond. He took Machi from Raph and situated her on the back of his shell as she wrapped her arms around his neck in what they'd discovered was the only way to get her into the water. She didn't really have a turtle preference, and if another turtle was close enough, she'd been known to jump from one shell to another. This act of bravery had Leo believing she wasn't really as scared of the water as she was making out, but that she just enjoyed free rides around the pond.

He slid into the water, mindful of Machi wrapped around his head, and smiled as Raphael swam towards him for a kiss before swimming away to challenge the others to a cannonball contest. Although it was meant to be something fun for the little ones, Leo laughed as he watched Donnie, Sadie and Casey join in with Raph as well. At least the kids were enjoying the waves created by all the cannonballs.

He pushed himself backwards away from the splash zone and moved Machi to his plastron so that he could float on his shell. Machi was singing a song he didn't recognize, also not that unusual since she seemed to sing constantly and she didn't seem to mind if the lyrics were actual words or made-up nonsense as long as she was making noise.

The group continued to swim and play until they were called in for dinner which was followed by the traditional gathering outside for the bonfire.

Since it was summertime and _all_ the kids thought it would be cool to sleep out in the barn, Leo and Raph gave their bedroom up to Mike and Woody and volunteered to sleep as chaperones out in the barn with the little ones. Raph had taken Machi into the barn to put her to bed while Leo sat with the rest of their group, minus April who said she was too exhausted to stay up and Master Splinter who just wished to go to bed for some quiet, and helped supervise the making of s'mores around the bonfire.

When more time than it normally took to put Machi to bed had passed, Leo excused himself and headed to the barn to see what could be taking so long. They hadn't packed many books for this short farmhouse trip so he could only imagine what Machi was coming up with to stall bedtime. He slid into the barn and immediately froze when he realized what tactic Raph had switched to to get Machi to go to sleep. He crept forward silently, hoping that neither Raph nor Machi would hear him, until he reached the stall where they'd spread out all the girls' sleeping bags. From the shadows he stood and listened as Raphael continued to sing to the little fox who was fighting to keep her eyes open as she sat cuddled in his lap.

" _The sun goes down. The stars come out. And all that counts is here and now. My universe will never be the same. I'm glad you came. I'm glad you came_ "*

Leo crept past them and made a small purposeful noise at the back door of the barn so Raphael would head that way once he finally put Machi down for the night.

A few moments later, Raph grinned as he headed out of the back of the barn. His eyes had already adjusted but he continued scanning the darkness for Leo. He'd expected him to be waiting at the barn door but since he wasn't, Raph began to wonder if he'd imagined the noise in the barn. He started walking around the back side of the barn and back towards the bonfire when his face split into another grin as his feet were knocked out from under him as a silent Leonardo tackled him from the side. Their bodies slid into the woods with the impact and Leo smiled as they were completely swallowed up by shadows.

Leo grabbed Raph's wrists and pinned them above his head before ducking down to kiss Raph's neck. Raph tried to stifle a moan. He was acutely aware of their distance to the bonfire where several ninjas with excellent hearing sat giggling as they roasted marshmallows.

"Leo, the kids," he managed to finally say even as he wrapped his legs around Leo's shell. Leo released his hands and he gasped again as he felt fingers begin to rub insistently over his slit.

"Can't help it," Leo said, rubbing his face into Raph's neck. He raised his eyes and focused in on Raph's half-lidded green eyes. "Do you think you can be quiet?" Leo asked, a devious smile on his face. He didn't give Raph a chance to answer and instead began kissing his way down Raph's plastron. He'd barely reached Raph's slit before the emerald turtle dropped down, allowing Leo to immediately pull him into his mouth.

Raph felt a churr rise up his throat but he kept his lips pressed together, determined to be quiet. Since the foxes had moved in with them a few months ago, they'd done their best to keep silent in their bedroom, but it didn't get any easier with practice to try to be quiet. It just wasn't in Raphael's nature. But he in no way wanted to explain to the kids what was causing the strange noises and in the end _that_ won out over his desire to release any pleasurable sounds.

But it was easy to forget these perfectly rational reasons to be quiet when he was being sucked down Leo's throat with such ferocity he was left clawing at the dirt beneath his hands. He bit down on his lip as he felt a churr from Leo and thrust upwards as if he could get any closer to Leo's mouth than he already was. Leo churred again and undid him. His hips thrust violently towards Leo once more as he arched his head back and released a silent scream.

Leo released him and grinned at the limp body beneath him. He crawled up Raph's body and nuzzled his face into the emerald neck as he listened to Raphael's panting. He stayed there for a few moments until Raph's breathing evened out before standing and pulling Raphael up on his feet as well.

"Whoa, whoa, Fearless, what about you?" Raph asked in a loud whisper as he grabbed Leo's arm to stop him before he left the wooded area.

Leo whipped around and kissed Raphael again. "That was for me," he whispered to him. "Do you know how fucking gorgeous you are singing our daughter to sleep?"

Raphael's eyes widened as he flushed from the praise. Leo grabbed his hand and pulled him out of the woods to head around the barn and back to the bonfire.

"Where have you two been?" Mikey asked suspiciously as he took in the dopey grin on Raph's face. Woody, although grinning at Leo and Raph, nudged him and nodded towards all the kids present.

Usagi also looked up at the two turtles as they sat down together by the fire before quickly looking away.

"Machi was too scared in this strange place to go right to sleep," Raph said with a sudden straight face. "Took a little longer to get her to settle down."

"I think its time for everyone to settle down," Leo said, eyeing Akito's marshmallow-covered face. "We're heading home early tomorrow morning. I think its time for bed."

This was met by groaning by most of the kids and Leo quickly said, "Perhaps we should all get up early in the morning and meditate on how important a good night's rest is?"

There was total silence from the little ones after that statement. Raph, Mikey and Donnie all simultaneously ducked their heads and hoped the little ones couldn't see their smiles. It was certainly nice not to have Leo's total focus on their training anymore.

"Well then let's go, Akito, Violet, Pink, Green, Brown and Black," Leo said, rising from the bonfire.

"I can't believe you refer to them by the color they're wearing," Usagi grumbled. "And they let you get away with it."

"Her name is actually Violet," Akito said, smiling shyly at the bunny with the purple ribbons.

"True," Leo said, also smiling as he watched Violet softly smile back at his little fox. "Actually, I've been switching back and forth between the English and Japanese translations. They already think the Japanese versions are cool nicknames – Pinku, Midori, Chairo and Kuroi"

Usagi watched with a scowl as his niece and nephews heads spun around as each "nickname" was called out by Leo.

"Plus the Japanese makes it less blatantly obvious," Leo said, chuckling as he began leading the kids off to the barn with Raph following the group to make sure there were no stragglers.

Usagi scowled again at the teasing as he began to follow Donnie and Sadie inside. He was happily sleeping on the comfortable couch instead of on some hay out in the barn.

"You do realize that Usagi translated from Japanese actually means "rabbit" right?" Donnie asked, pulling Sadie into his side as they walked. "I think the colors are an improvement."

Raphael barked out a laugh.

* * *

 *The Wanted "Glad you came"


	2. Chapter 2

Raph preferred sleeping in a bed versus the mound of hay and blankets that he and Leo had managed to pull together up in the barn loft. But he had to admit that there was something nice about waking up with Leonardo clinging to him for warmth. Summer or not, it became chilly overnight. And he could tell in his half-asleep state that Leo had practically crawled underneath him to try to escape the cool air.

He momentarily hoped the kids had all been warm enough through the night but dismissed the thought when he thought of the fur that covered each and every one of them.

He opened his eyes and found that Leo was, of course, already awake. Raph knew if Leo hadn't been freezing he probably would've gotten out of bed to head off for his morning meditation by now.

Raph smiled down at him and began pressing kisses to Leo's cold, pitiful face as he ran his hands up and down Leo's arms to try to warm them.

"Come on," he whispered as he stood up. He grabbed one of their blankets and then watched Leo shiver and stand as well so that he could quickly press himself back into Raph's side.

Raph wrapped the blanket around both their shoulders and then led them quietly out of the barn. They walked through the cold, wet grass down to the water where he spread the blanket out and then planted them down in a spot the rising sun was just beginning to reach.

"What are we doing down here?" Leo asked, shivering again.

Raph wrapped his arm around Leo's shell and rested his head on Leo's shoulder, situating himself before he spoke. "You get a little antsy when you don't meditate in the morning. So go for it."

"Are you going to meditate?"

"No. I'm going back to sleep," Raph said through a yawn. "But I will sit here and keep you warm."

Leo pressed his lips to Raph's forehead. He'd never had someone draped over him while meditating before but there was no way he was giving up the heat coming off of Raphael. He smiled to himself as he began to calm his breathing.

Master Splinter watched them through the window in his farmhouse bedroom with a small smile on his lips.

* * *

They had already said goodbye to Usagi and the color-coded bunnies when everyone began loading up the vehicles to go home.

Donnie found Sadie standing on the front porch and he wrapped his arms around her as he came up behind her.

"Did you get your coffee?" he asked.

He heard her laugh and then say, "Yes, I've had my coffee. Not that I depend on it, at all, to be a normal person in the morning."

"Oh no, of course not," Donnie said, laughing as he thought about how completely non-functional she was without morning coffee. He glanced out to the front yard to see what had caught Sadie's attention and found April dancing with Machi.

When the rescue group had left for Usagi's dimension to find Leo, Donnie had wondered why April had so quickly accepted that she was going to be left behind. But once Leo had been found and returned, April and Casey had shared their exciting news that she was pregnant. April was the first pregnant woman he and his brothers had ever seen and Donnie caught himself, and his brothers, staring at her stomach as it grew.

But April certainly wasn't the first pregnant woman Sadie had ever seen and he was left wondering if it was the round stomach that had her attention or just the dance she'd made up with Machi. He leaned his head down and pressed a quick kiss to her cheek before leaving her to put their suitcase in the shellraiser.

* * *

Once they were back in their own apartment that morning, Raph gave Machi a bath and then ordered Akito into the shower as he went in search of Leo. He was alarmed to find Leo at the kitchen counter, appearing for all intents and purposes as if he was making food.

" _What_ are you doing out here?"

"Mikey said he would disown me as his brother if, as an expert swordsman, I couldn't manage to spread peanut butter and jelly onto bread using a tiny sword," Leo responded with his shell still to Raphael. He lifted the knife he was using over his shoulder to Raph for emphasis.

"He challenged you over something that involves feeding our children?" Raph growled as he walked over to the counter to eye Leo's progress. He was expecting a disaster but the picture on the countertop actually looked pretty normal. Plus there were no appliances involved. And in truth, Leo _should_ be perfectly capable of using the so-called tiny sword.

"Well, I am the one who is home with them for lunch," Leo said, finishing up with the jelly and pressing the two sandwiches together before cutting them in half. "Plus, I can also manage cutting up fruit." He grinned over at Raph.

Raphael grinned back. "Will Machi eat peanut butter and jelly?"

"I think the point we need to focus on," Leo said, raising a finger, "is that I made them lunch, using a sword-,"

"Knife."

"-by myself."

Raph pressed his plastron against Leo's shell, effectively trapping Leo against the counter, and gripped Leo's bandana tails so he could pull his head back far enough to plant a kiss on the side of Leo's face. "Twenty-five years old and you finally learned how to make a sandwich. It's ridiculous how impressed I am right now."

Leo tried to stifle a gasp as he felt Raph's fingers pull on his tail. "I hear that lunch meat is even easier," he said in a fast exhale. "No utensils required at all."

Raph huffed out a laugh before quickly releasing Leo. Leo's breathing was altered and he wanted to scowl at Raphael for teasing him. He refrained only because he could also hear Machi's footsteps before she rounded the corner into the kitchen.

"Lunchtime, Akito!" Raph called out as he picked Machi up and settled her in her seat at the table. He sat down next to her and grinned again at Leo as he set the kids' plates on the table.

"If you don't eat this, I will," Raph said, pretending to try to steal some of Machi's food. It was the newest trick they'd all learned to get to her to eat. And it worked. For now.

* * *

"I'm going out for a run," Leo said, strapping his katana to his back as he stood by their apartment entrance. He glanced over to Raphael and watched the emerald hands tighten into fists as a slightly panicked look reached his eyes.

Since his return, Leo hadn't pushed to leave the building by himself often. He could feel the worry that rolled off of Raphael and he didn't want to distress his favorite turtle. But Leo was accustomed to running almost daily. Add in that the brothers weren't patrolling as often as they used to and Leo's muscles were becoming restless. He tried to compare it to Raph's need to head to the dojo to lift weights every day but that analogy didn't deter Raph's fears.

Raph glanced over at the kids who were currently watching a Space Heroes episode. He frowned for a moment, wondering how they could be watching the show when Raph was pretty damn sure he'd destroyed, secretly of course, _all_ of Leo's old DVDs of the show when they'd moved out of the lair.

"Want someone to come with you?" Raph asked, suddenly wondering if it was fair to ask Master Splinter to come watch the kids every day just because he didn't like their current clan leader going out by himself. And if he had to stay behind with the kids, maybe Donnie or Mike could –

"No," Leo said, walking up to Raphael. When not on patrol, running was a solitary activity for Leo and he preferred to do it alone. He slid a hand along Raph's face. "I'll stick to the sewers." It was a silent compromise and he watched Raph's eyes accept it before he offered a small nod in return. He smiled and kissed Raph quickly before giving both kids quick hugs, while hiding his smirk about the TV show, before heading out to the elevator and down to the sewers.

Once in the sewers, he immediately took off in sprint. He was soon covered in a layer of sweat and could feel the still-tight muscles in his previously injured side start to loosen up the longer he ran.

Since moving into Donnie's building, he hadn't had much of a chance to explore the surrounding sewer tunnels and took the opportunity to do so now. He made a mental note to go back to his old basketball court and collect the ball and net in order to relocate them somewhere closer. Its current location was too far to run if he wanted to have any energy by the time he reached it. Plus, he knew Raph would appreciate him not going so far out.

Sensing someone nearby, he stopped suddenly, unsheathed his katana and spun around. His eyes widened.

"Hello, Leo."

"Karai."


	3. Chapter 3

Leo stared at Karai. It had been over six years since they'd last seen her. Over six years since they'd defeated the Shredder. With her help.

He'd hoped it would be a turning point. That she'd finally come live with her true family. Mikey had gone on and on about having a sister. Donnie had still been trying to create a permanent retromutagen for her. Even Raph seemed to warm up to the idea after she'd joined forces with them.

But instead she'd disappeared.

He'd been disappointed. But it was nothing compared to watching Master Splinter's growing depression as each day went by without hearing from her.

"Karai," he repeated. He glanced around, trying to sense if there were others with her.

She smirked at him. "I'm alone, Leo."

He looked at her again. Except for hair that reached her shoulders, she looked exactly the same as the last time he'd seen her.

"We looked for you," he said.

She sat down on the side of the tunnel and patted the spot next to her. She watched as he somewhat reluctantly put his swords away before taking the offered seat.

"Well unless you boys figured out how to cross oceans, you wouldn't have found me."

"That's a pretty far distance to run," Leo said, staring at the tunnel wall in front of them.

"Well, I got to a take a private jet."

"I didn't mean literally." He turned to look at her. "You ran away."

She found herself scanning over his face. She took in the scar across his forehead before her eyes traveled down the rest of him. Her eyes narrowed in on his side.

"You've been recently injured." She reached a hand out to touch the scar covering his side and was surprised when he jerked away from her before she could even make contact. She ducked her head so she could hide the shock from her face. When she looked back up at him she found him standing with his arms crossed and his blue eyes staring hard at her.

"What are you doing here?" Leo asked her.

Karai stared back for a moment before speaking. "Actually, I've been looking for you guys for a couple weeks. I finally found the lair but it doesn't look like anyone actually lives there anymore." Leo continued to stare at her and she cursed his ability to hide emotions behind that blank face. Well, mostly blank. His eyes looked a little angry.

The turtleshell-shaped phone on his belt buzzed and she watched him glance at the screen before his eyes brightened and his mouth twisted in a wry smile. He appeared to send a text in reply.

"I have to get back," Leo said, barely glancing at her as he reattached the phone to his belt.

Once again she was startled. Some time had passed since they'd last seen each other but she wondered what happened to the nervous, flirty Leo she'd known in the past. And even if he was no longer going to act like a total dork around her, didn't he wonder where exactly she'd been? What she'd been doing? Or why she'd been searching for them now?

"I'd like to see Master Splinter," she said. She figured that would get his attention and she watched his blue eyes meet her own eyes again. But it wasn't interest she saw in them, but anger. "I have something I'd like to discuss with him regarding your clan."

He stared hard at her again. "I'm the clan leader now," Leo said. "So if you really have something to discuss, it will be with me. But not now."

"You have someone waiting for you, Leo?" She couldn't hide the irritation from her face.

He raised an eye ridge at her. "I'll meet with you tomorrow."

She paused and looked down at her feet. She wanted more of a reaction from him. She had pictured their reunion going much differently. Finally, she raised her head to nod at him and her mouth dropped open when she realized he was already gone.

* * *

Leo rode the elevator to the top floor and headed into the dojo where Raphael was sparring with Akito while Machi sat on the sidelines with a toy. Raph's eyes lifted to Leo when he walked through the door and Leo saw the relief on his face. Then he hid a laugh as Raph's eyes widened as Akito took advantage of his distracted sparring partner and twisted one of Raph's sais out of his hands.

Akito's eyes widened in surprise as well and he spun around to Leo with a wide grin. "Did you see that?"

"Its important not to be distracted when facing an opponent," Leo said as he watched Raphael take advantage of their now distracted son as he twisted his other sais around Akito's wrist and flipped the little fox onto his back.

Akito landed with an "oomph" and a "Hey!" and Raph reached down to help him up with a grin.

Leo walked over to them and rubbed his hand down Raph's arm, stopping at the blue bandana tied around his emerald wrist. Raph smiled back at him.

"What is Machi playing with?" Leo asked after a moment.

"Throwing stars."

"Raph!" Leo said, whipping around towards Machi, only to be stopped by Raphael's grip on his shoulder. He looked back to find both Raphael and Akito doubled over in laughter.

"Papa said you'd believe him!" Akito said, laughing as he wrapped his bushy tail around Leo's ankle. "She's just playing with paper dolls from Aunt April!"

Leo took a deep, calming breath before glaring lightly at Raphael.

"Made the kid laugh," Raphael said in his own defense with a shrug. Leo and Akito had had a tight bond even before Akito had moved in with them and Raph had been working hard to form a close relationship with his new son as well. "How was yer run?"

"Interesting," Leo said, watching Akito run over to where Machi sat. "I ran into Karai."

Raphael had bent down to pick up his sais from the ground but quickly straightened. "You what? She's here? In the sewers?" He made a face.

Leonardo nodded.

"What did she want?"

"She said she's been looking for us. She wanted to speak to Master Splinter about a proposition that would involve our clan."

Raph smirked. "Did you tell her she'd have to go through you now?"

Leo nodded. "She was irritated I wouldn't stay and talk to her about it then. I told her I'd meet her tomorrow."

"Do you think maybe she just wants to talk to Master Splinter?"

Leo shrugged. He glanced back over to the kids and smiled as he watched Akito try to play with Machi.

"I'm surprised you didn't stay to find out today."

"I got your text and I just wanted to come home," Leo said, leaning over to give Raph a quick kiss.

"How'd you feel seeing her?" Raph asked, his voice quieter than before. He watched Leo shrug.

"Surprised. And then angry," Leo said.

Raphael frowned. He knew better than anyone that it was easy to use anger to block out other emotions. "Why angry?"

"I just remembered Master Splinter's face every time we came back to the lair without her," Leo said. "And she doesn't even care what she did to him. She had that same smug look on her face that she's always had."

"Or what she did to you," Raph supplied.

Leo shook his head quickly. "It was never about me, Raph. It was about all of us. About our family. She had a place in this family and she walked away. More than that, she ran away without even telling her own father goodbye. We've had no idea what happened to her."

Raph felt something in his chest loosen at Leo's words. He'd always been irritated by Leo's strange behavior around Karai. But knowing Leo's strong loyalty to their family, he knew Leo meant what he said. And it had hurt to see how upset Master Splinter had been after Karai's disappearance.

"You ready to go back downstairs? I need a shower before dinner."

"Sure," Raph said, heading over to the kids so he could pick Machi up. Akito helped by collecting all the pieces of the paper doll set. "Are you going to tell Master Splinter?"

Leo paused at the dojo door. His eyes darted over to the wall that separated the dojo from Master Splinter's apartment. "I don't think so. Not yet anyway."

Raphael nodded in agreement as they headed back downstairs.

* * *

After Sunday night dinner at Mike and Woody's apartment, Donnie and Sadie said goodnight to Master Splinter in their shared hallway before they headed into their own apartment.

He sat down on the edge of their bed and watched Sadie kick off her shoes before she began pulling her pajamas out of her dresser.

"Sadie?"

She hummed in response and turned to him as she pulled her hair up into a ponytail.

He paused. He'd wanted to broach this topic with her but now that he had her attention he wasn't sure how to begin.

"Donnie?" she said, trying to draw his attention back to her. She walked over to him and situated herself standing between his long legs.

His large hands automatically wrapped around her waist and he rubbed his thumbs over her flat stomach. He thought back to the family dinner and the subtle expressions he'd seen on Sadie's face when she'd look at April.

"I'm just - ," Donnie started but paused before saying a rush, "I can't get you pregnant, Sadie. I'm a mutant turtle."

Sadie immediately giggled. "You're a what?!" she said in mock surprise.

Donnie sighed. That hadn't come out the way it had sounded in his head.

"It's just, you've given up a great deal to be with me. And I can move us out of the sewers and create a company that lets us work together and be productive. But there's nothing I can do to be less of a turtle."

"I don't want you to be less of a turtle," Sadie said, the giggles gone as she frowned at him. "And I appreciate all of the changes that you've already made to make me more comfortable. But I'd still be in love with you even if we were still working in your lab in the sewer."

"I love you too, Sades. But you've still given up other things. We can't legally get married. You can't bring me to your friends' parties or weddings when you're invited to go. They probably think you've made me up. And seeing April pregnant is another reminder of something that you've given up by being with me."

Sadie cupped Donatello's sad face in her hands. "You've thought about marrying me?"

His eyes flew up to hers. "Of course I have. You're amazing."

She leaned forward and kissed him. "That's a strange proposal but I'll take it."

Donnie smiled at her. "I hope you weren't picturing a church wedding."

"Atta boy," Sadie said, moving her hands to the back of Donnie's neck where she began rubbing at the muscles. "I know you like to plan eighty steps ahead but let's focus on things one step at a time."

Donnie leaned forward and kissed her again. "Deal."

* * *

Leo lay on the couch with his head in Raphael's lap as they watched TV later that night. He could feel Raph's fingers trace over the edge of his shell. He noticed that Raph spent a lot to time running his fingers over the most recent crack. It was healing, but it was healing slowly.

Leo turned his head and glanced at Raph's hand working its way over his shell. He eyed his old blue bandana tied around Raph's wrist. He knew Raph took it off when he worked in the garage or when he took a shower. And he must take it off to wash it, but Leo really never saw Raphael without it.

"That bandana doesn't remind you of when I was gone?" Leo asked, inadvertently rubbing his hand across the scar that ran the length of his own forehead.

Raphael pulled his eyes away from the screen and looked down at his wrist. "It just reminds me of you," Raph said back to him. "Not that I need much of a reminder, but," he shrugged his shoulders, "I just like seein it there." He brushed Leo's hand away to make him stop rubbing the scar on his forehead. He frowned down at Leo, "Does it remind you of when you were gone?"

"No," Leo said, sitting up to face Raphael. He pulled Raph's wrist into his hands and ran his thumb over the blue cloth. "I think it's sweet that you wear it." He grinned when Raph scowled at the word sweet. He moved closer so he could duck his face into the emerald neck where he nipped some of the skin between his teeth. "It's like another mark of mine on you."

Raph moved his head to the side and tightened his fingers around Leo's. "I hear a _but_ in there," he said.

"I don't have anything of yours," Leo said, pulling back from Raph's neck.

"Well, I don't exactly have a class ring to give ya," Raph said, grinning at him.

"I know, smartass," Leo said, dryly.

"Then what do you want?"

"I don't know. Something permanent, though."

"Permanent? Sounds like you expect us to be long-term." Raph raised a smug eye ridge at Leo.

Leo scowled at him and snatched his hands away from Raph's hands. Raph responded by laughing and surging forward to press Leo into the couch as he climbed on top of him.

Leo laughed beneath him and half-heartedly tried pushing him away. Raphael jumped up from the couch suddenly and Leo watched him head into the kitchen. He returned seconds later and pulled Leo upright again.

"This isn't completely permanent, but it'll do for now," Raph murmured as he pulled the cap of the sharpie off with his teeth and then drew the kanji symbol for a capital R on Leo's upper arm. He looked up at Leo's face when he was finished and smiled at Leo's dorky grin.

"Thanks, Raphie."


	4. Chapter 4

Leo inhaled and breathed in Raphael's scent. He smiled to himself as he pushed himself up to leave their bed for his morning meditation.

Raphael's arms snaked around him and pulled him back down into his side.

"Uh uh," Raphael mumbled. "If you get up to meditate then that means I have to get up soon for practice and I want to stay right here today."

Leo smiled into Raphael's neck. "Ok."

"Yeah?"

Leo felt the emerald arms tighten around him. He nudged Raph's face to the side and pressed his face in Raph's neck again before angling his mouth enough to allow his tongue to reach out and swipe at one of Raph's pulse points.

Raphael rumbled out a laugh. "There's no way you're actually gonna stay here in bed with me so don't even start."

"Who says I'm not staying here with you all day?"

"Papa up! Papa up!"

Raphael groaned. "The lady of the house says so. Why doesn't she ever call for you first thing in the mornin?"

"Because she knows I'm usually not even here," Leo said, giving Raph a quick kiss before rising up out of Raph's arms and leaving their bed.

Raph groaned again and climbed out of bed himself to head to Machi's room as he watched Leo leave the apartment to head up to the dojo. He made breakfast for both kids and headed upstairs almost an hour later when Master Splinter arrived to babysit so he could go to practice.

He met Mikey in the hallway and jogged up the stairs with him as Mike told him about a new dinnertime location he and Woody were going to try out with their food truck because it had the added benefit of being next to a video game store. He swatted Mikey's annoying hands away from his face as they reached the fourth floor where they found Leo and Donnie standing in the hallway waiting for them.

"We're heading out," Leo said, passing them as he headed back into the stairwell.

Donnie shrugged at them and followed along. Raph frowned. Leo hadn't said anything to him about a practice run this morning.

They'd sprinted for almost fifteen minutes before Leo stopped abruptly and turned to them.

"We're going to meet Karai," Leo said suddenly.

"Wait, Karai – Karai?" Mikey asked.

"How long has she been back?" Donnie asked.

"Yes," Leo said with a nod to Mike before turning to Donnie with an, "I don't know." He glanced a look at Raphael and noted his frown. "She has a proposition for our clan and I wanted you all to come with me to hear it."

"Wait, we're on our way to see Karai right now?" Donnie asked, looking alarmed.

"Karai – Karai?" asked Mikey, still looking confused.

"Why do you want us to come with ya?" Raph asked, still frowning. He'd assumed Leo would meet up with Karai on his own. And he'd been determined to be ok with it.

Leo paused and looked to the ground. He felt only anger when he thought of Karai and he didn't want that anger to cloud his judgment at her request, especially since his initial response was a flat out refusal to help. He wanted his brothers there to provide their own opinions on whatever she had to ask of them. Leo glanced up and met Raphael's green eyes.

Raph smirked and shook his head before saying, "Fine, but don't get mad when you hear what we have to say."

Donnie and Mikey glanced between Leo and Raph. Donnie nodded. Mikey shrugged. Leo turned and began running again, feeling comfort in hearing his brothers behind him.

They landed on the rooftop of the former TCRI building and Karai turned around to face them. Seeing the four of them together surprised her, and for a split second she felt the same relief at seeing their familiar faces that she'd felt the night before when she'd happened upon Leonardo. She pushed the feeling away.

She watched as they stopped a few feet away from her. Leo stood with his arms crossed a miniscule distance ahead of his three brothers. Their faces were stern, except for Mikey who appeared to be curiously staring at her. She couldn't imagine what he found so interesting.

Her eyes scanned over Leo again, taking in the newest scars before narrowing on his arm as she recognized the symbol for the letter R, which appeared to be drawn on with marker. She wondered again if Leo had someone waiting for him at home who would've had such easy access to his arm.

Karai realized they were waiting for her to start speaking and since it had taken her weeks to find them to set this meeting up, she figured she'd better hurry and take advantage of it.

"No one else knew that the Shredder was not my true father. And after his death, I was asked, as The Foot clan heir, to return to Japan." She paused for a moment and cursed the turtles' ability to keep emotion from their faces at will. "It took some work but I have managed to re-organize The Foot into an agency that no longer harms people." She allowed a small amount of pride on her face. "We have reduced the crime rate in the cities of Japan by 83%."

She paused again. They continued to stare at her with narrowed eyes. She sighed inwardly. They were clearly going to be hard to win over.

"Since you all do not _advertise_ what you do for the city and The Foot clan does, we were contacted by a man here in New York who has requested our help. His name is Winters and he asked that we help welcome some friends to the city." She rubbed her hands together as she scowled, thinking of her group's pitiful attempts to collect any of the creatures. "However, it turns out that these friends are ancient monsters from another world. They're not easy to find, nor are they easy to capture. Winters has some Stone Generals that he insists I work with, but I'd feel more comfortable if you would help as well."

"Generals made of actual stone?" Donnie asked with a raised eye ridge.

She nodded. She knew how that would sound to the smart turtle. "Winters hasn't said himself, but from the research we have gathered, he managed to gain immortality thousands of years ago, but at a price. His generals were turned to stone and the monsters were released into this world. If he can return them when a portal opens, the curse will be lifted. But we're running out of time. We only have three days left to find all thirteen monsters."

Leo turned away from her and walked to the edge of the roof with his brothers swiftly following him. Karai was so busy watching Leo duck his head into a circle with his brothers that she almost didn't notice that Mikey had stayed behind until he sidestepped to the left and effectively blocked her view of the turtle huddle.

She raised her eyes up to his blue ones and found him staring at her curiously again. He tilted his head to the side as if the different angle would help him see what he wanted from her.

"You messed up _big_ this time," Mikey finally said.

She narrowed her eyes at him. She knew Michelangelo was the joker in the family, but he certainly wasn't smiling at her right now. "All I'm doing is asking for a little help from my family." She watched Mikey tilt his head the other direction and frown at her.

"I don't think that you really believe we're your family. Family doesn't disappear for six years without even dropping a note once to say that they're alright."

"Clearly I've been alright," she said with as little emotion in her voice as she could manage.

"You haven't even asked about Master Splinter," Mikey said.

Karai ducked her eyes away from Mikey's intense glare. Damn if didn't look exactly like Leonardo when he did that. There was something about having the disapproval from the most easy-going of the turtles that was beginning to anger her.

She raised her eyes back up and suddenly found the other three brothers standing on either side of the orange-clad baby brother. She hadn't even heard them move back across the rooftop.

"We've decided that we will help you," Leo said, his arms crossed with a blank expression on his face. "But only because we cant allow these monsters to roam the streets and hurt innocent citizens. We'll meet up tonight and break into teams to cover more ground."

Karai frowned again and began to protest. "This is still _my_ job."

Leo raised an eye ridge that made her want to smack the blue cloth off his face, but Raph beat Leo to a response.

"I'm afraid if you want help from the Hamatos, yer gonna have to do what leader turtle says."

"Is that what you do, Raphael? You follow all of Leo's orders now?" She expected an angry response. In fact, with the mood she was in now, she was counting on it. She wanted to see Raphael charge at her. Either Leo would stop him and she could smirk at the red-clad turtle for following orders again _or_ she could engage in an actual spar with him and burn off some of her frustration. Either situation worked for her.

Instead, she watched as amusement instead of anger filled Raphael's eyes. And when he opened his mouth it was only to say, "Every day," with a goddamn smile on his face.

She scowled at him before turning back to Leo. "Are we meeting back here or are you going to share with me where you all have moved?"

"We're definitely not doing that," Donatello said before Leo could release the laugh that Donnie could see building up in his big brother. Leonardo was definitely angry and Donnie was going to try to keep as much peace as possible.

Leo bit the hysterical laugh back, thankful for Donnie's good judgment. "We'll meet back here at eight."

Raphael cleared his throat and Karai watched Leonardo's eyes dart to Raphael and stare at him for a moment before looking back to her.

"We'll meet back here at nine," Leo finally said and Karai was left to wonder not only about their silent conversation, but also about what would keep them so busy that they would push patrols back an hour.

The four brothers were sprinting away from her before she got a chance to ask.

* * *

They sped home in silence which was only broken once they reached the rooftop of Hamato Engineering.

"Eight pm is a little early for me to be finished with the dinner shift plus clean up on the truck," Mikey said. "So I'm not complaining about you pushing patrols back, but why can't you make it at eight?"

"We put the kids to bed at eight," Raph said, following the others into the stairwell.

"Good call," Mikey responded.

Leo listened to their conversation and suddenly let loose the hysterical laughter he'd kept in earlier. He tried to rein it in when he realized his three brothers had stopped in their tracks to turn and stare at him. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry," he said, still laughing. "Seeing Karai just reminds me of us as teenagers except right now I'm listening to Mikey being responsible about his career and Raphael is reminding me that we have to be home to put our kids in bed." He couldn't contain the loud laughter, especially when he saw laughter begin to erupt out of his brothers as well.

"If I don't clean up the kitchen in the truck every night, it's nearly impossible to get the crusty food off the stove the next day!" Mikey said, sliding to the ground as he wiped tears from his eyes from laughing so hard.

"And if you don't find Machi's stuffed turtle by bedtime, she refuses to go to sleep!" Raphael said, his rumbling laughter echoing off the walls of the stairwell.

"And Casey and April are going to have a baby!" Leo said, pressing his fist into his tight side muscles, which were beginning to become sore from excessive laughing.

"Casey couldn't hang out last night because he had to go to a birth class with April at the hospital!" Raph said.

"Stop! Stop, dudes!" Mikey said, rubbing at his own sides.

"Sadie and I decided to get married," Donnie said through his giggling. His three brothers abruptly stopped laughing and turned to him with smiles and sincere congratulations.

And then Leo threw his head back and burst out laughing again as he slid to the ground as well. "You're going to need a tuxedo!" He felt Raphael slide down next to him, his rumbling laughter shaking Leo's shoulder.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Yes, these guys are still 2012-series based (although I've gone way off course, there, amiright?) And yes, now I'm referencing the 2007 movie. But I'm about to take a TON of liberties with that plot-line as well…


	5. Chapter 5

When the four brothers picked themselves up off the floor of the stairwell, Leo announced that morning training was over and had to smirk at the speed Mikey and Donnie displayed to escape back to their own apartments.

He headed into the fourth floor hallway and back into the dojo with Raphael trailing him. He began pulling out the smaller, wooden weapons to prep the dojo for the training session he'd have later that day with his tiny, furry students before turning to Raphael.

"I'm pairing you up with Casey and Karai tonight." He watched Raph's lower lip jut out. Classic pout face.

"I thought you loved me," Raph said.

Leo smiled at him. "I love you _dearly_."

"Yer avoidin her. You just don't wanna hear her real reason for leavin."

"She told us her reason."

Raph huffed out a loud breath. "You really believe that's why she left?"

"I don't care why she left," Leo said, feeling the anger beginning to rise again. He could feel Raph move closer to him.

"What makes you think I won't kill her on patrol?"

"Because I watched her bait you earlier and you didn't fall for it. I'm sure you can contain your homicidal tendencies for a few hours."

Raphael smirked back at him before turning serious to say, "Yer gonna tell Master Splinter she's back today, right?"

Leo scowled. "She'll probably leave as soon as this job is over."

"Leo, we can meet with her and not tell him, but we can't run _patrols_ with her and not tell him."

Leo scowled again.

"Yer damn cute when yer angry," Raph said, closing the space between them and gripping the back of Leo's neck to force him to turn towards him for a kiss. He began pushing his weight forward, forcing Leo to begin to walk backwards across the dojo floor.

Leo tried to pull away to ask Raph where they were going but Raph's strong fingers on the back of his neck prevented it and instead he only managed to release a muffled sound into Raphael's mouth.

It only took a few moments anyway for Raph to push them across the room and into the dojo's bathroom. He used his foot to shut the door behind them and released Leo's neck so he could lock the door quickly before he began pulling Leo's gear off.

"What are you doing?" Leo asked, making no attempt to stop the emerald turtle from undressing him.

"I need a shower before work," Raph said, tossing Leo's gear directly onto the bathroom's tiled floor. He reached behind Leo's head and untied the blue bandana which was at least tossed in the direction of the sink counter.

"So why are you removing _my_ gear?" Leo asked innocently.

"Because I need yer help," Raph said, as he began pulling off his own gear. "There's parts of my shell I can't reach."

"You manage most days by yourself," Leo said, and Raph almost churred at the purr he heard in Leo's voice.

Leo watched Raph unwrap the blue bandana from his wrist before Leo's hands reached forward to pull Raph's sais off his belt. He placed them on the sink counter before stripping him of his belt which was promptly dropped to the ground.

Leo untied Raph's red bandana as well and managed to get it on the counter before Raphael grinned at him and pushed him towards the large walk-in shower. Raph immediately turned on the warm water and deposited Leo beneath it. He watched for a moment as the water streamed down his mate and nearly growled with want as he watched Leo's skin glisten under the steady stream.

"Ya don't have to help me clean my shell if you don't want to," Raph said, closing the space between them as quickly as he could before trailing his hands down the front of Leo's plastron. "We probably won't have time for that anyway." His hands curved around behind Leo and he grinned wider when he watched Leo gasp and drop down immediately once Raphael grasped his tail.

Leo pressed his mouth over Raph's again and churred as he let his own hands slide down to the emerald turtle's slit where his insistent fingers soon had Raphael churring and dropping down as well. For a moment they stayed right there, too caught up in the sensations of stroking each other as the water fell on them. Raphael's free hand glided over Leo's arm, enjoying the slickness provided by the shower.

When it was clear Leonardo wasn't going to make an advance, Raph growled and turned him around towards the shower wall before pulling Leo's hips back towards him. He watched Leo's hands slip and then quickly recover as he pressed them against the wet tiled wall to support himself. Raph used one hand to keep Leo's hips steady while the fingers on his other hand pressed teasingly into Leo's entrance. He watched Leo duck his head forward as a low moan left him. He guided himself to Leo's entrance and slowly pushed himself into his mate while reaching around to stroke Leo as well.

Once he was completely buried within Leonardo, he slumped forward and rested on Leo's shell, pleased to feel the strength in Leo's leg push back to support him so that they remained upright.

"I love ya, Leo," Raphael sighed out, content to remain where he was under the water.

"I love you, Raphie. Now _move_ ," Leo growled out at him.

Raphael chuckled before he lifted himself off Leo's shell and began pulling out and thrusting back into Leonardo. He smiled again as he watched Leo's fingers clench into fists against the wall as Leo's moans began echoing off the walls of the bathroom. It was harder from this position to angle himself as he wanted, but he tried anyway, searching out Leo's prostate. He knew he'd found it when Leo's head whipped back as a loud churr escaped him. Raphael churred at the sight and increased the speed in both his hips and his hand. His other arm wrapped around the front of Leo moments later to keep Leo standing as Leo reached his release and allowed his body to go limp in response.

Raph slowed his hips and when it was clear that Leo was going to remain upright, he released his hold on Leo's plastron and was free to grip Leo's hips with both hands to allow him to thrust into Leo quicker than before, loving the new tightness he felt. He churred and then moaned out Leo's name as he released himself inside Leo and then it was Leo's turn to support Raph's limp body which slumped against his shell again. When he felt Raphael leave him, Leo shifted himself around so his mouth could find Raph's again. He enjoyed that position, or any position with Raphael, and knew it was a favorite of Raph's, but it did make it impossible to kiss.

Raphael pushed towards him again and he felt his shell scrape against the tile as their tongues twisted together.

"I think that's clean enough," he said into Leo's mouth before turning off the water.

* * *

Leo and Raph reentered their apartment a short time later and while Raph headed to the kitchen to make himself breakfast, Leo joined Master Splinter and the kids in the living room.

"I do not see evidence of the excessive energy you claim Machi has when I sit with them," Master Splinter said to Leonardo, trying to hide his smile as he handed Machi another crayon. "She and Akito are _both_ perfectly calm and pleasant."

"You don't think you think that because you raised four unruly, loud, energetic boys?" Leo asked, sitting down next to him.

"They weren't all unruly," Raph said, coming out to the living room and giving Leo a pointed look as he handed a cup of tea to both Leo and Master Splinter.

Leo smiled a thanks to Raph for the tea and Raph jerked his head towards Master Splinter before heading back into the kitchen.

Leo sighed and looked down into his teacup before glancing at the two little foxes. He couldn't imagine either of them leaving one day without a goodbye or a backwards glance. But if they did and they suddenly returned, he would sure as hell want to know.

He looked up to Master Splinter and found him already peering at him. The anxious feeling he'd felt a moment before at the thought of his own children abandoning him was suddenly replaced again by anger at the hurt he'd had to witness in his own father's eyes thanks to his ungrateful sister.

Raphael walked out of the kitchen again, scooping spoonfuls of cereal into his mouth after hearing nothing but silence in the living room. He took in the cute scowl that was once again on Leo's face and sat down in a chair opposite them.

"We met with Karai this morning," Raphael said around the cereal in his mouth. He expected a glare from Leo but he watched as the blue eyes only slid to the floor.

Master Splinter's hand shook only slightly as he reached up and tugged on his whiskers. He glanced over to his eldest. "This is what you've been hesitating to tell me this morning?" He watched Leo meet his gaze again before nodding.

Akito glanced up from his own drawing and looked back and forth between his father and his grandfather. He'd never heard of Karai before and had to wonder who she could be.

"She has returned and asked you for something?"

"Yes," Leo said, nodding again. He repeated Karai's request to Master Splinter, told him that they'd agreed to help and that they'd be meeting with her again that night. "She'll probably leave as soon as this mission is completed," Leo said, feeling the need to begin preparing his father for disappointment.

Master Splinter tugged on his whiskers again. "She seemed ok to you?" he finally asked. "Not injured or not in her right mind?"

"She was herself," Raphael answered plainly.

"Do – do you want to come with us and see her?" Leo asked.

Master Splinter hesitated but then shook his head. "I will wait for her to be ready to see me."

"But, what if she -," Leo started but stopped when Master Splinter placed a paw on his shoulder.

"It will be alright, Leonardo. You just focus on the mission."

Leo nodded as Master Splinter rose and said goodbye to the children before heading out. Leo rose as well and followed Raphael into the kitchen where he waited for him to rinse his cereal bowl in the sink before wrapping his arms around Raph's middle.

Raph responded by pulling Leo into him. "He'll be ok, Leo," he whispered to him. "I'm going to work. I put bread in the toaster already. All you have to do is pull the toast out and eat it."

Leo released Raph only to glare at him.

"I'm going to ask Akito later if you ate breakfast," Raph continued as he leaned forward to kiss Leo. "I better get a good report." He kissed him again before heading out to say goodbye to the kids and exiting the apartment.

Leo pulled the toast out when it popped up and threw it onto a plate where he stood staring at it for a few minutes as he thought again of Karai's explanation of what she had accomplished with the Foot.

He looked up when Akito came into the kitchen.

"I can put jelly on it if you want," Akito offered with a smile.

He grinned down at his son.

* * *

Once Leo and Raph had the kids tucked in for the night, April and Sadie came over to sit and watch movies in the living room while they went out.

They met up with Karai who looked incredibly displeased to be paired with Raphael and Casey Jones, although she bit her tongue and only responded by handing Leo a communication device that would allow him to summon an army of Foot if they found a monster to capture.

"Seems wrong to summon the Foot _to us_ ," Mikey said as he followed Leo and Donnie away and across rooftops.

Karai turned to the two morons she'd been paired with and said to Raphael, "I am not following _your_ orders."

"How about mine?" Casey asked, his grin wide as he propped a bat behind his head.

Raphael smirked. He could practically feel the excitement about being on patrol rolling off of Casey.

"Don't push it, Jones," Karai said, taking off to head across the rooftops, secretly pleased that the two were following her.

"Oh, come on, Karai. It's ok to admit that you missed me," Casey teased back as he ran.

Karai didn't respond to Casey and instead the three ran in silence for some time before Raphael skidded to a halt. Karai and Casey stopped and Karai watched Raph frown and eye the sky around them. It always freaked her out a little how sensitive the turtles' hearing was considering they didn't even have visible ears.

Karai pulled out her own communication device and hit the tracking button to summon the Foot to her location as Casey peered over the side of the rooftop they stood on.

"Whoa!" Casey said, jumping back and falling on his rear as a black, winged creature swooped over the side of the building towards him. "What kind of creature is that?!"

"Let's go, Case," Raph answered breaking into a run to follow the creature as it flew away.

Casey jumped up and quickly followed behind Raph and Karai before calling out, "You do realize that all I've got is a wooden baseball bat, right?!"

* * *

Leo stood on the rooftop of Hamato Engineering and looked down at his phone again. Donnie and Mikey had already gone inside. They'd found a large furry, ape-like creature earlier and had battled it until the Foot and honest-to-god stone soldiers had appeared to tranquilize and carry the creature off in a garbage truck.

He'd sent Raphael a text to tell him about the monster and ask how they were doing and was still waiting to hear back. He should probably go downstairs and relieve April from babysitting duties but he just couldn't head down there without Raph. Plus, April, who was probably sound asleep on their couch, would want an update on Casey.

Finally his phone buzzed and he quickly answered it.

"Raph?"

"Leo," Casey said, "I'm sorry, man. We need yer help."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: "You do realize that all I've got is a wooden baseball bat, right?" – Hands down the funniest line of the whole movie.


	6. Chapter 6

_Earlier that night…_

Raphael stopped suddenly and Karai and Casey followed suit behind him. He couldn't hear the creature anymore, which meant it had probably stopped moving again and was just perched somewhere nearby. He growled in frustration. They'd been chasing this fucking flying monster for almost an hour.

His phone buzzed and he pulled it to read the text from Leo. "They captured a monster. Leo says actual stone generals showed up to take it away."

"I told you about them," Karai said, frowning. "You guys didn't believe me?"

Raphael raised a skeptical eye to her.

"I'm not a liar," Karai said, angrily.

Raphael considered this while she glared at him. "Fine, yer not a liar. But yer full of shit."

"What?" she took a threatening step towards him and glared again when he smirked at her advance.

"You and Leo are way more alike than either of you would like to admit," Raph said, sighing in exasperation as he watched her take another step towards him. "And I'm an _expert_ at reading Leo. You may not be lying to us, but yer not telling the whole truth either." He watched her freeze. Her eyes stayed on him but she took a step back. "And on top of that, yer somehow _confused_ as to why Leo is angry with ya."

Casey stood to the side, his eyes going back and forth between the two of them, ready to jump in the middle of the family feud if needed. It wasn't like Raph to subtly push emotional buttons like this, especially while looking so calm.

Karai turned away from Raphael but it didn't stop the red-clad turtle from continuing anyway.

"All those years Leo spent trying to get you away from Shred-head and into the safety of our clan. _Yer_ clan by birthright," Raph said, shaking his head. "He went on and on about how there was good in ya and how we shouldn't give up on ya. And how did you repay all that blind faith he had?"

"You don't know what you're talking about!" Karai snarled back at him, pulling her sword.

Raph crossed his arms in response to her threat. "So you didn't high-tail it outta here when things calmed down? When it was time to just relax and settle into yer new family?" He watched her lower her eyes to the ground as the arm holding the sword lowered. "You thought you could run away and it wouldn't matter to us. But it did. It hurt the whole family, especially Leo. Leo takes all that shit on his own shoulders. _No one_ loves family like Leo loves family. And you left him feeling like he'd failed Master Splinter. Like he failed the _family_."

Karai felt a chill run through her. It was the exact conversation she'd been trying to avoid with Leo and she certainly didn't expect it to come from the family hothead. She raised her eyes back up to him, expecting a smug look on his face, but instead his eyes were narrowed into a slight frown with his mouth pressed into a thin line. He was waiting to see if she was going to rebuke what he'd just said. But, she found she was at a loss for words. She watched him uncross his arms and drop his hands to his sides in a less threatening pose. Her eyes narrowed in on his wrists as she realized one of his wrist guards was blue while the other was brown.

She was about to ask him about his mis-matched gear in order to change the subject but watched as his head jerked up to the sky right before he took off again. She pressed the tracker button for the Foot once more and quickly followed behind him and Casey.

* * *

Leo landed on the rooftop silently and immediately crouched down to check on his unconscious mate. Even though Casey had said Raph wasn't actually hurt, he couldn't stop all the worst case scenarios from running through his head until he had his hands on Raphael again.

Casey and Karai stood back and silently waited for Leo to finish checking Raph's vitals, something they'd been doing routinely as they stood guard over their teammate. They didn't mention their prior checks to Leo, he wouldn't have cared at that moment.

Finally, Karai broke the silence. "He shoved me," she said. "I was about to yell at him for pushing me but then he went down and I realized he'd been hit by the tranquilizer. They were aiming for the monster we'd found but it was flying erratically over us and they missed."

"No kidding," Leo said quietly, pulling Raph's head into his lap so he could pull his eyelids back and check the pupils of those green eyes. "The dart?"

"I've got it Leo," Casey said. "I'll give it to Don when we get home."

Leo nodded and Karai's eyes slid to Casey. It was strange to think that perhaps Casey now lived with the turtles as well.

Leo slid his hands down Raph's face. Raph seemed ok based on his cursory check. But he wanted him back home so Donnie could check him over properly. "Help me sit him up."

Casey and Karai both stepped forward to help but the glare Leo sent Karai stopped her. Casey pretended not to notice and helped move Raph into an upright position so Leo could more easily pull him onto his own shell to carry him home. It was the main reason Casey had called him out there since not even he and Karai together could move, let alone carry, Raphael's bulk.

"Leo-," Karai said.

"Let's go, Casey," Leo said, turning to head off the rooftop.

Casey looked to Karai and shrugged before moving quickly to keep up with the leader.

When they reached their building, Leo went directly to his and Raph's apartment where the majority of his family sat quietly in the living room. Leo had called Donnie on his way to pick up Raphael and alerted him to the situation. He passed the others and gently deposited Raphael on their bed where Donnie was waiting with his mobile medical bag to examine Raph as well.

After agreeing with Leo that Raphael seemed okay except for the sedation, Donnie took the tranq dart from Casey and headed down to his lab. Leo sent everyone else to bed and went back to his own bedroom where he began pulling Raphael's gear off him before undressing himself and crawling into bed to wrap himself around Raph's shell.

"Idiot," he murmured into Raph's side. "She doesn't deserve you saving her."

He stayed like that for a while, listening to Raph's even breathing while he alternated between calling Raphael a moron and growling at him to wake up already. His T-phone buzzed and he pushed himself up off of Raphael to reach it.

He frowned when he read Donnie's text: _The dosage of this tranquilizer would knock out three elephants. Go to sleep. He's not waking up anytime soon._

"Goddamn her," Leo growled, tossing the phone back on his nightstand as he sat up to glare at Raphael. "And you. Goddamn both of you." He sighed when he still got no reaction from Raphael. He reached over and gently ran his hand down Raph's peaceful-looking face before positioning himself down next to him again to try to sleep.

* * *

When Raphael next opened his eyes, he was surprised to see two sets of little eyes peering at him over the side of his bed.

"Papa!" Machi said when she realized his eyes were open.

"You've been asleep forever," Akito said, a slight frown on his face.

Raph stared at them for a few moments. He felt groggy and didn't know why he'd be in bed if the two kids were awake. He opened his mouth to ask where Leo was but his mouth was dry and no sound came out. He coughed a few times.

"I'll get you some water," Akito said, sprinting out of the room.

Machi climbed up on the bed and curled into his side. She wasn't a huge cuddler normally so he had to again wonder how long he'd been lying in this bed.

Akito returned with a glass of water and Master Splinter. Raphael moved into a sitting position and moved Machi into his lap. His arm was a little sore and he felt slightly dizzy sitting but otherwise didn't note any injuries. He nodded his thanks to Akito and quickly drank the entire glass of water handed to him.

Akito took the glass back with wide eyes and quickly ran to the kitchen to refill it.

"What happened?" he asked, his voice hoarse.

Master Splinter placed a paw on Raphael's pale forehead and nodded before answering him. "Casey says you knocked Karai out of the way of a tranquilizer dart and took the hit yourself. A tranquilizer meant for an ancient monster," he said with a wry grin. "You've been asleep for almost two days."

Akito returned and handed another full glass of water to Raphael.

"Two days," he said quietly as his thoughts again turned to Leo. "Where's Leo?"

"I told him that I would watch over you while you slept and persuaded him to continue monster hunting since there is a deadline," Master Splinter said.

"Is everyone else ok? No one else has been hurt?"

"Everyone else is fine," Master Splinter said, nodding and turning to leave the room. "I'm going to make you some soup."

Raph put his water glass down on the bedside table and glanced back down at Machi in his lap. She was sound asleep. He looked over to Akito who was still standing by the bed. "Come here," he said to him, lifting an arm as Akito quickly scampered up onto the bed and tucked himself into Raph's side. "You worried just because I decided to take a long nap?" He smiled at Akito and watched the little fox actually roll his eyes. "I'm sorry I've been out of it for a couple days. And yer dad's been gone a lot too, lately, huh?"

Akito nodded and pressed himself closer to Raphael.

"Let's call him so he knows I'm up," Raph said, reaching over for his T-phone. He hit the speed dial for Leo.

"Raphael," Leo growled when he picked up although Raph could immediately hear the relief in Leo's voice.

"Aishiteru, Leo."

"Don't think that's getting you out of a lecture, you jerk," Leo said and Raph smiled at the smile he could hear in Leo's voice.

"What number are ya up to?"

"Twelve," Leo said.

"Damn," Raph said. "Have you been sleeping at all?"

"Not really," Leo said. "And it's all going to be for nothing if we can't find the last monster."

"Too bad we've had a teammate sleeping instead of helping!" Raph heard Mikey yell into the phone. Raph heard some muffled noises and imagined Leo shoving Mikey away from him.

"How are you?" Leo asked seriously when his side of the call became quiet again.

"Want to see you."

"Me too, Raph," Leo said, sighing. "You're okay, though? Not in any pain?"

"Little groggy when I woke up but its wearing off."

"Kids okay?"

"Machi's asleep in my lap. Akito's right here too. I think they missed me." Raph grinned at Akito when he felt Akito elbow him.

"We've _all_ missed you. I love you, Raph. I wish I could come home now but we have to keep searching."

"I know, Fearless. Stay safe."

Leo hung up with Raphael and moved back across the rooftop to where Donnie, Mikey, Casey and Karai were waiting for him.

"He ok?" Casey asked.

Leo nodded before turning to Karai. "Winters doesn't happen to know what the last monster looks like, does he?"

Karai shook her head. She and Leo had developed a silent truce where they spoke civilly to each other, although only when it was absolutely necessary, and so she kept her snarky comment to herself. "He hasn't known what any of them look like. He's always surprised to see them when we bring them in."

Leo sighed. He'd been anxious to get back to Raphael when he was still unconscious. But now that he knew Raph was awake, he was desperate to go home.

"We're going to split up," Leo said. "We'll cover more ground."

'I call Casey," Mikey said.

"Uh, me too," Donnie chimed in, desperate to get away from Leo and Karai's tension after two straight days of it.

"You don't get to call-," Leo said, but cut himself off when he saw Mikey pull out the big puppy dog eyes. "Fine."

"Great, thanks Leo!" Mikey said, grabbing Casey's arm and dragging him away.

Donnie paused and wondered briefly it was a good idea to leave Leo and Karai alone together. He glanced over at them, noted they were currently doing their best not to look at each other and quickly spun on his heel and away from the tension.


	7. Chapter 7

They ran silently across the rooftops. Leo still wasn't sure how he'd ended up alone with Karai but he pushed the thought aside and instead focused on his relief that Raphael was finally awake as his senses reached out for signs of the last monster.

"The hothead's ok?" Karai finally asked after almost a half hour of silence.

Leo stopped at a rooftop edge and peered down. "Yes, _Raphael_ is fine." The sound of Raph's nickname coming out of her mouth, after Raph had taken a hit meant for her, grated on his nerves. Besides, that nickname was for family.

Karai frowned. So much for being considerate. She'd have to try another tactic if she wanted Leo to talk to her. She peered over the side of the building as well and her eyes followed Leo's gaze to see what had captured his attention. She saw a man clearly breaking into a car. She knew if Leo wasn't so exhausted that he'd be down there stopping him. But Leo _was_ exhausted and they had a bigger job to do right now. Still, it gave her an idea.

"I'm thinking about moving the Foot back to New York City," she said. She felt Leo tense next to her. "Your team is clearly busy doing _other things_. Don't look shocked, I may not know what _you're_ doing but I heard Michelangelo mention he had to get up early to prep food for _work_. And I don't remember food prep being part of ninja training."

Leo scowled at her but said nothing.

She'd take the scowl over the blank expression he'd been giving her the past three days.

"And after my success in Japan, I'm sure I can fill in where your team has failed. We'll get this city cleaned up."

"And yet, you had to come to us and ask for help," Leo said.

"True. And I'll admit we weren't making any progress before your eerily strong senses joined in the monster hunt. But I'm not talking about hunting supernatural monsters, just the normal everyday thugs of the city that you seem incapable of handling." Karai watched Leo's fingers flinch and recognized his impulse to pull his katana. She smirked and pulled her own sword.

Leo felt his previous anger at her rise up again and pulled his katana at the sight of her own sword in her hands.

"So you think you can just come back to the city and take over?"

She began to circle Leo and was pleased again when he responded by circling back. "Oh come on, Leo, surely you can see that _I'm better than you_."

He lunged for her and she quickly responded by raising her sword to protect herself. She dodged and twisted, listening to their swords strike each other only when he raised his against her. She remained on the defensive, not that he seemed to notice, waiting for him to tire himself out. She could see the anger in his eyes and took a few steps back again, trying to keep a distance between them, especially after he'd managed a pretty forceful kick that sent her flying across the rooftop.

She noticed that his anger seemed to only fuel his strength instead of making him sloppy. His skills had obviously improved since they'd last sparred, not that that surprised her. She'd never met anyone more dedicated to ninjitsu than Leonardo.

She was exhausted but she pressed on until their swords stuck one final time and the amount of strength Leo put into the blow actually broke her smaller sword in half.

They stood glaring at each other, both panting from the battle. Karai looked down in shock at her broken sword.

"What the hell is your katana made of?" Karai asked, incredulously. She raised her eyes back to Leo's face and stared at him as he smiled at her for the first time in over six years.

"That felt good," Leo said, full-on grinning at her now.

She scowled at him but wasn't able to hold the look for long in the face of his grin. She didn't smile back but lifted an eyebrow and said, "So, do you forgive me then?"

"Do you really think you're better than me?"

She looked down at her broken sword again and tossed it onto the rooftop. "You've clearly improved since I've been gone."

"My question really only required yes or no for an answer," Leo said.

"You're clearly just as smug as you were before."

Leo raised an eye ridge.

"No, I do not think I'm better than you."

She looked down at the ground and then back to Leo. Her eyes narrowed once more on his upper arm where the last remnants of the now faded letter R remained. She thought back to Raph's blue wrist guard and something finally occurred to her. "You know when I was patrolling with Raphael, he and I had a heart to heart discussion where he calmly said I was full of shit and called me out for leaving." She watched a small smile form on Leo's face. "He yelled at me for hurting the family and for hurting you. I was expecting a spar from him and the calm discussion with you. But it seems like you two have rubbed off on each other since I've been gone."

Leo couldn't help the grin. His eyes slid down to the ground.

Karai threw her head back and laughed. "Seriously?"

Leo still didn't answer her. Instead he returned his attention to the street below again.

"I'm actually not that surprised. I often noticed Raphael's eyes on you when you weren't looking," Karai said, thinking back. "And there was all that weird tension between the two of you, for no apparent reason."

Leo glanced over at her and grinned again.

"I don't really have the right to ask, but Leo, I'd really like to know what's happened since I left." She watched Leo seem to consider her request. He was hesitating and she didn't blame him. "Leo, I know _now_ that I hurt you guys. But I honestly thought when I left that I'd be doing you all a favor."

Leo's head jerked back towards her with clear confusion in his face.

"I wasn't raised to be in a family, Leo. You had all this blind faith in me that I appreciate more now than I did then. I had been pretty sure if I stuck around that I'd ruin the Hamato clan. And I was in Japan a long time before I began to even consider that I may have made a mistake. And then the longer I stayed away, the harder it was to think about coming back. I threw myself into re-organizing the Foot because if I ever did come back, I'd need something to show for my time away. I couldn't come back a failure. Or empty-handed."

Leo shook his head. "That's not what family is about, Karai." He watched her nod slowly but wasn't sure she really understood. But how was she supposed to understand with Shredder for a father?

"Leo, do you know if – if Master Splinter even wants to see me? If I could talk to him and try to explain, do you think he'd understand?"

Leo knew his father would want to see her. And she wouldn't even have to say anything to earn his forgiveness. He smiled at Karai, "Well, I wouldn't go into it with weapons like you did with me."

"It worked with you," she muttered, scowling at him again. She was about to say something else when she noticed his blue eyes flip to white, something that had always creeped her out about the turtle brothers.

Leo's arm lifted and his katana blocked a tranquilizer dart aimed for his side.

"Behind me, Karai."

"What?"

Leo blocked another tranquilizer. "You don't have a weapon. Call your Foot."

Karai hit the tracker while tossing throwing stars at the stone generals who were beginning to close in on them.

"They're made of stone!" Leo said in exasperation at her waste of the shuriken. He watched them bounce off the generals. "Why are they attacking us?"

"I have no idea!" She yelled back.

Leo removed his T-phone and tossed it behind him to her. "Open that and press the emergency button."

Karai did as she was told and turned to check for an escape behind them. They weren't near a fire escape and they'd never make the leap to the next building without a running start, something they weren't about to get in this situation.

"Give me a sword," she said and watched Leo actually hesitate. She knew he was lethal with two, but he couldn't leave her unarmed, either. They watched the general with the tranq gun toss it aside as he ran out of darts.

Leo turned to her and handed her one of his swords, "Only because you're a Hamato," he growled at her and she nodded and actually smiled in appreciation as she took it. They turned together and charged at the generals.

Leo struck a charging stone monster with his katana and felt the vibrations of his steel hitting stone return all the way down to his fingers. He tried to shield Karai as he fought but they were outnumbered and their blows to the generals were having almost no effect. He spun to kick one of the generals getting too close to Karai when another grabbed him by the throat from behind.

He dropped his remaining sword as he felt his air supply being cut off so he could paw at the unrelenting stone around his neck.

"Stop! What are you doing?" Karai yelled. "He's not the last monster! We were still looking for it!"

"Yaotl will believe he is," one of the generals said to her.

"Who?" Karai yelled, feeling helpless as she watched Leo's hands drop and his body go limp in the giant stone grip.

"That's none of your concern," another general said. "Your job here is finished." He swung his stone arm towards her and her vision went black.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Raph and Leo fighting is my least favorite part of that whole movie. But by switching the roles around a little, I think this works.


	8. Chapter 8

Karai felt like she was being rocked. That was her first thought. The second was that her face hurt. And thirdly, she inhaled a deep breath and even with her pitiful _human_ nose, she recognized the scent of the being carrying her as he ran across rooftops. She stopped trying to figure out what was going on, reached her arms around his furry neck and whispered, "Father."

Splinter's arms tightened around his daughter as he ran.

He and Raphael had received the emergency call from Leonardo's T-phone and he had wasted no time in deciding to accompany Raphael on this mission. They quickly dropped the kids off next door with April and then took off using the new tracking systems Donnie had put in each phone which allowed everyone to converge on the teammate in trouble without Donnie needing to be at his computer at home.

Raphael pushed away his grogginess and stiff limbs as shock set in when they found only an unconscious Karai on the rooftop. Their only other immediate clues were that half of Karai's face was purpling already in a nasty bruise and one of Leo's katana lay next to her open palm. After checking her over for other injuries, Master Splinter lifted Leo's T-phone, found clipped to the belt on her pants, and showed it to Raphael.

Raph didn't sense Leo nearby, but he left Master Splinter with Karai while he searched the rooftop anyway. He found Leo's other katana and picked it up carefully, turning it over gently in his hands as if there would be a clue on it. He found Karai's sword as well, broken in two. But no Leo.

Members of the Foot arrived next and Raph figured Karai must have called them when the T-phone alert had been sent. They tried to take Karai but Master Splinter scooped her into his arms and snarled at anyone who came near them. They wisely backed away but remained nearby on the roof.

Donnie, Mikey and Casey landed near him moments later. Raph picked up Leo's other katana from the ground near where Master Splinter now stood with Karai and gingerly handed them to Casey who quietly slid them into the case he wore on his back.

If it wasn't for the katana strewn about, which Leo never would've left behind willingly, they wouldn't even know for sure that Leo was missing. But Raph knew he'd been taken. Karai was still knocked out and therefore completely useless. The Foot soldiers' silent presence nearby pretty much ruled them out.

He looked again at Karai and the nasty bruise she was developing. Whoever had hit her had been strong. Like one of the monsters they'd been chasing.

Or maybe like someone made of stone. He fought back the panic in his chest as he wondered why the stone creatures would want his mate. Instead he turned to some members of the Foot nearby, "Lead us to this Winters guy," he said.

They were still following the Foot when Karai awoke in Splinter's arms. He heard her whisper "Father" and he gently responded, "I've got you, my child."

She clutched his neck tighter and then stayed there, feeling safely cradled for the possibly the first time in her life. But soon her thoughts turned to why he would be carrying her across rooftops and she pulled back so she could see her father's face. Only one eye would open properly and she winced through the pain in her face as she croaked out, "Leo." She saw a flash of red and realized Raph was now beside them as well as they continued to move.

"Who took him?" Raph demanded.

"Stone generals," she responded. "I think they're going to try to pass him for the last monster."

Raph nodded. Then at least they were heading in the right direction.

They quickly scaled the wall surrounding Winters' estate and headed towards the main building where they came upon a circle of cylindrical cages.

"Whoa!" Mike said, falling backwards off a cage after he determined that the creature that tried to attack him through the glass was definitely not his big brother.

Master Splinter gently and somewhat reluctantly set Karai down on her own two feet. She clutched her head and teetered sideways, steadied by one of Splinter's paws.

"Perhaps you should take cover," Master Splinter said to her.

"No," she said, shaking her head, which she soon realized was a mistake. "I couldn't help Leo when they took him. I'm not sitting out now."

Raphael jumped up onto another cage and peered inside. "Leo," he whispered and then felt his blood boil at the sight of an unconscious Leo crammed into the tiny space. "This one!" he called out and stepped back so Don could attach a device to disable the door. It popped open with a loud crack and Raphael was immediately crouching into the cage.

Karai watched Raphael carefully cradle Leo's face in his hands. It looked sweet, but she knew he was actually checking for a pulse. She grimaced at Leo's bruise-covered neck. She didn't want to tell them she'd had to watch Leo be strangled by pure stone hands and found herself silently pleading with whoever would listen to let him be ok.

Raph's hands were shaking and he was having a hard time finding a pulse in Leo's neck. He fought the panic again and leaned his face into Leo's face, hoping to feel Leo's breath on his skin at least. "Come on, babe," he whispered out and he nearly laughed as his palms clutched Leo's face in a tight grip when he heard Leo softly growl at him.

Leo's eyes slowly opened and he managed a smile when he saw Raph's green eyes staring back at him.

"We really need to work on our schedule so that we're both awake and asleep at the same time," Raphael murmured to him as he pulled Leo up out of the cage and gingerly set him on his feet. He kept a tight grip on Leo's upper arms, even when it was clear that Leo would remain standing on his own. His eyes narrowed in on Leo's neck and he growled as he slid one hand up to lightly trace over the massive bruise.

Leo just smiled at him gratefully and slid a hand up to Raph's face. He forgot for a moment that they were in a dangerous situation and remembered only that it had been over two days since he'd seen Raphael awake. He closed the space between them and kissed Raph, letting his own weight rest against Raph's strong frame. He kept the kiss short though and moved his face into Raph's neck for a moment before pulling back.

"You weren't expecting that, huh?" Casey asked, elbowing Karai in the side despite Master Splinter's look of disapproval.

"Actually," Karai said, smiling over at the red- and blue-clad turtles, "Leo and I had a little heart to heart earlier and it might've come up."

"What kind of heart to heart?" Raph asked, narrowing his eyes at Karai.

"The kind where he snapped my sword into two pieces during a spar."

Raphael rumbled out a laugh and heard his other two brothers trying to muffle their own laughs. He pulled Leo back into his plastron and murmured down to him, "Its fun to do things my way sometimes isn't it?"

Mikey nudged Casey and nodded towards his back.

"Oh, right," Casey said, taking a step forward and pulling Leo's katana out to hand them over. "Yer gonna need these."

Leo nodded and took the katana, happy to feel the weight of them back in his hands.

"Karai," Winters said, approaching them. "Am I seeing giant turtles?"

"They're my brothers," Karai said, and behind her three of the brothers, not including Leonardo, exchanged surprised looks. "They've been helping me track the monsters. But your stone generals tried to pass one off for the final monster."

"You mean we don't have all thirteen?" Winters asked, looking suddenly stricken as the portal behind them opened and a swirling vortex rose towards the sky.

"Well, that can't be good," Donnie said.

"Why would we want to give up immortality?" one of the stone generals asked as he came up behind Winters, the other three trailing him.

Winters turned to his stone generals and began speaking to them. Leo could hear the shock in his voice and knew he was being double-crossed by the stone creatures. He turned to his team and with a lowered voice, handed out the orders.

"Casey and Karai, I need you to go get that last monster," he held up a hand to fend off their protests. "Mikey, you're our best tracker, go with them and bring that monster back before this portal closes."

Mikey nodded, an uncharacteristic look of seriousness on his face as he grabbed an arm of each of the two humans and began to haul them off with him.

Karai managed to give an order to one of her elite Foot and Leo watched the Foot soldiers turn to him. Leo nodded, thankful for the back-up. He wasn't thrilled about going up against the stone creatures again.

They turned back to watch Winters continue to argue with his generals.

"I hate to see families fight," Donnie said.

"Unless it's together," Raph said, squeezing Leo's shoulder again. "Yer sure yer up to this?"

"Are you?" Leo countered, his eyes searching Raphael's face for leftover signs of the tranquilizer's effects.

Raph nodded. "Let's just do this and go home. Kids are worried."

* * *

Leo saw the van speeding into the building before the others and lunged forward to knock Master Splinter and Donnie out of the way as the giant monster who had been chasing the van – _how had they missed that guy roaming the city?_ – tried and failed to skid to a stop before he slid right into the portal.

He lifted himself up, pulling Master Splinter and Donnie with him as he searched out Raphael. He found him a few feet away and crossed the floor to him. He ran his hands over the skin of Raph's upper arms, noting areas where new bruises were sure to pop up later. But otherwise assured himself that Raphael appeared fine, energized even. Raphael grinned at him when he raised his eyes to Raph's green ones, waiting for Leo to finish his check-up before pulling him close to kiss him.

Mikey popped out of the crashed van first, a huge smile on his face. "Donnie, tell Casey that I'm an excellent driver!" he exclaimed.

Donnie smiled tiredly and shook his head. He thought about how grateful he was that Raphael would be the one in charge of fixing up the crashed party wagon, instead of himself.

Mikey toppled off the side of the van as Casey shoved him from below in order to lift himself up and out as well. "That's why the van is on its side right now, Mike," Casey said, his eyes scanning over Master Splinter and the other turtles to make sure they were all ok.

"The important thing is that I got that thing to chase us," Mikey said.

Karai lifted herself from the floor of the backseat and was met at the open window by Master Splinter's outstretched paw, ready to help her climb out. She didn't need the assistance but she took his hand happily and was soon out of the van as well.

They turned as they heard Winters begin to laugh. He smiled and thanked their group before losing his immortality and turning to glittery dust before their eyes.

Master Splinter looked to Leonardo, who gave his father a small nod, before turning back to Karai, "Do you want to come home with us?"

Karai dismissed her Foot soldiers and turned to the others with a small smile. "OK."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: I hope you're not disappointed that the entire "stone generals fight with the turtles/monsters sent into the portal" scene was not included. If you've seen the movie, please just imagine that's (mostly) what happened here as well. I just didn't feel like typing it out. Wanted to get to the emotional good stuff.


	9. Chapter 9

They managed to push the party wagon back upright onto its tires and thankfully it started when Raphael turned the key, although he was already making a mental list of the things that would need to be repaired or replaced. He quickly pressed down on the gas to get them all out of there.

Karai wasn't surprised when they entered the sewers through a secret tunnel, but she was surprised as Donatello began talking and explaining some of what led to their change in living quarters to her.

Leo sat in the front passenger seat, his head dropped back against the headrest as he listened to Donnie describe his de-radiation tool to Karai and what had transpired for him personally from there, including his PhD, his patent, his deal with the government, the family's new building and Hamato Engineering.

Leo smiled as he listened and he reached over to rest a hand on Raph's broad shoulder as thinking about the creation of the de-radiation tool reminded him of his and Raph's reconciliation and all the moments between them that followed.

Raphael grinned back at him as he pulled the van into their underground parking lot.

It was dawn of the next day but after three straight days of monster hunting, they were all exhausted and Master Splinter offered Karai his spare bedroom to rest. She gladly accepted and stared as part of the sewer wall slid to the side and an elevator appeared for them. She watched as Leo, Raph, Casey and Mikey got off on the third floor and they said quick goodnights before the doors slid shut again.

She followed Donnie and Master Splinter off the elevator on the fourth floor and said another quick goodnight to Donnie at his apartment door before following her father into his own apartment. It was clean and bright as the rising sun shone through the windows. She glanced around at the new furniture and focused in on two framed photos sitting on a table next to his recliner. She recognized them both. One was a very old family photo of her as an infant held between her two parents. Michelangelo had taken the second photo just a few days before she had left. It captured her and Master Splinter playing chess together, both laughing at her made-up names for the pieces.

Her chest felt tight and despite her exhaustion, she turned to her father and immediately said, "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry I ran away. I just couldn't – I didn't know how to –," she shook her head and stopped talking when she felt tears well up in her eyes. She angrily brushed them away with her hand. She wasn't a crier.

But apparently she was a crier. Because in the next moment, she felt her father's arms wrap around her and she was sobbing and hiccupping and smearing tears into his fur. She didn't even notice when he shifted them so that they could sit together on the couch.

"I'm sorry," she finally repeated, wiping her face. She met her father's eyes and saw more kindness than she certainly felt like she deserved.

"The challenges you've faced on your path so far have been numerous."

"You've had challenges as well. And so have the turtles. I'm not unique in facing challenges," she argued back, unwilling to be let off the hook that easily.

"True," Master Splinter said. "But do you know how difficult it is to be raised by a," he paused for a moment as he tried to choose his next words, "single-minded, evil villain and still end up the person you were always meant to be?"

"I ran away," Karai said.

"No," Master Splinter said, shaking his head. "You followed the path you were supposed to take. We missed you, but what matters is that you're sitting here right now and I can see that you're safe."

"You're not angry with me? Leonardo was _very_ angry with me."

Master Splinter chuckled. 'I'm sure he was. He carries the emotional weight of this family on his own shoulders."

"Raphael said something similar."

"Yes, we're all thankful to Raphael for keeping Leonardo in check so he doesn't drive us all crazy with his worrying," Master Splinter said, still chuckling. "And no, I am not angry with you."

Karai nodded and then said,"Can I ask you a favor, then?" She waited till she received a nod from him. "Will you call me Miwa?"

She watched him smile, swallow hard and then nod his head again. "Of course, Miwa."

* * *

Donnie silently entered his apartment, pushed his gear off as he walked and crept into bed with Sadie. He wrapped his arm around her middle and pulled her closer to him.

"About time," he heard her murmur back to him. "Everyone okay?"

"Yes," he whispered back, feeling his heavy eyelids close. "And I had a great idea for something wedding-related while we were out."

"You're such a multitasker," she teased, turning to face him so she could wrap her arms around his neck as she watched him fall asleep. She reached behind his head, untied his purple bandana and gently lifted it from his sleeping face.

* * *

Michelangelo said a cheery goodnight to the others in the third floor hallway and skipped into his apartment, making sure the door shut silently behind him. He headed into the kitchen and quietly pulled a pan out for eggs and got to work making omelets for Woody.

A few minutes later he heard a groggy-voiced Woody behind him. "What do you think you're doing?"

He turned to his sleepy human and grinned when he saw Woody's blonde curls sticking up at odd angles. Mikey wished he could wake up with cool bedhead hair like Woody.

"I'm making you breakfast, dude," Mikey said.

Woody came up beside him, turned the burner off on the stove and, ignoring Mikey's protests, grabbed his hand to drag him back to their bedroom.

"Don't even act like you're not completely exhausted after not sleeping for two days," Woody said. He turned and pulled Mikey closer to kiss him. "And if you're too wired to go to sleep right now, I have an idea that I think will wear you down."

Mikey forgot about the eggs left behind in the kitchen and grinned when he recognized the look in Woody's eyes.

* * *

Raph and Leo followed Casey into his apartment where they found April asleep on the couch, her pregnant belly prominent between the two foxes curled around it.

The three of them stood silently for a moment, thankful to be home and thankful to have their loved ones safe and sound as well. Leo and Raph moved forward quietly and each picked up a sleeping fox.

Machi remained asleep in Raph's arms but Akito roused immediately and upon seeing Leo, wrapped his arms tightly around Leo's neck while whispering, "You're back." Leo ignored the slight pain the embrace caused his bruised neck and instead just hugged his son in return. He regretted the worry the past few days had caused both kids. Even with Akito's ninjitsu training and his experience in saving Leo in the other dimension, Leo planned to avoid the discussion he would have to one day with his kids regarding "real bad guys" for as long as possible.

They both nodded a silent thanks to April who sat awake now and stretching on the couch before they turned and left.

Casey pulled his gear off and let it drop in the middle of their living room floor before plopping down on the couch next to April.

"I think I'm gettin old, babe," he said, letting his head drop to the back of the couch. He hurt all over and the party wagon crash hadn't helped his already sore body.

"You're not getting old. And you should probably start getting used to sleepless nights," April said, laughing in return.

He reached over and rested a hand on top of her belly. Almost immediately he felt a kick strong enough to make him jerk his hand back up.

April laughed again. "I tried to balance a bowl of cereal there yesterday and got the same reaction. Kid won't let me rest anything on the belly."

Casey laughed. "I'm blamin the stubbornness on you, Red."

* * *

Certain that Machi would wake up the second he tried to put her to bed in her own room, Raphael pushed on Leo's shoulder and directed him into their bedroom where they laid down and quietly situated the kids around them. Akito didn't seem to mind at all that this was normally the time when he got up in the morning and instead just settled between his two parents and closed his eyes as they all fell asleep. He hadn't been sleeping well over the last few days anyway.

It was nearly two hours later when Machi finally woke up. Raph had situated her on his plastron and, at her first movements, he quietly got up and slipped out of the room, with Akito following silently behind. Raph had had plenty of sleep thanks to his tranq sedation and left Leo to catch up on his own sleep.

Leo was disappointed when he woke up alone a few hours later but couldn't complain when he found Raphael quietly reading to the kids in the living room. He slid into the couch next to Raphael, moving Machi to his own lap and rested his head over on Raph's shoulder.

They remained there until Raph's voice went hoarse from reading and they ran out of books. Leo knew Machi loved story time but even he was surprised at how long she was willing to just sit and cuddle with them.

"I'm sorry we've been gone," he said down to the kids, not sure if Machi understood but sure that Akito knew what he meant. Akito nodded and smiled up at him and Raph and Machi seemed to press herself further against his plastron.

Their stomachs were beginning to growl when they received a text from Woody inviting the entire clan to their apartment for a Chinese take-out dinner. They sent the kids to carry the books back to their bedrooms and exchanged a glance as they stood and stretched.

"Ready to introduce them to Aunt Karai?" Raphael asked.

Leo sighed. "I don't know. They're already a little freaked out. Do you think the fact that half her face is currently a giant purple bruise will make this worse?"

Raph considered and then shook his head. "Its not like they know what she normally looks like."

Leo huffed out a laugh. "Alright," he said.

"Come here," Raph said, pulling Leo towards him and taking advantage of the quiet moment they had alone together. "You know, just because I scared you didn't mean you had to scare me back."

"I'll mention it to the next stone creature who tries to strangle me," Leo murmured, pressing his face into Raph's emerald neck as he felt Raph's arm tighten around him.

"Different creature. Same old story from you, Fearless."

Leo only nodded as the kids rejoined them. Raphael let go of him and picked up Machi as they headed out of their apartment and down the hall to Woody and Mikey's place.

Leo smiled as he saw his family gathered around. They bypassed Sadie and April laughing over a bridal magazine in the living room and headed into the kitchen where Karai, Master Splinter and Casey sat on stools at the island already eating directly out of take-out boxes as Donnie stood talking to Mikey and Woody.

Without turning from their conversation, Woody grabbed a take-out box from the island and handed it directly to Leo, knowing how cranky he got if he didn't get his share of kung pao shrimp.

Raph forgot for a moment that they had introductions to make and instead rolled his eyes at Leo's preferential treatment before smiling playfully at Leo.

Miwa had stopped chewing and just stared the moment Raph and Leo had walked into the kitchen with two little foxes.

Leo leaned down and scooped Akito up so he could see and be seen easily. "Um, Karai -,"

"Actually, she has asked that we call her Miwa," Master Splinter interjected.

Leo looked to Karai and watched her nod. "Okay. Miwa, I would like to introduce you to my and Raph's son and daughter. This is Akito and that's Machi. And this is your Aunt Miwa," he said to Akito.

Akito peered at her curiously, wondering what on earth had happened to her face since it looked even worse than his dad's neck. But he knew how to be polite so he said a quiet hello and watched as her one open eye widened.

"Is he a -,"

"No," Raph said, cutting her off before she could ask if the kids were mutants. "It's a long story but they're originally from a different dimension."

Miwa sent Raph an apologetic smile and then looked to Akito again. "Are you hungry? Do you want to share my cashew chicken with me?"

Akito nodded quickly and jumped down from Leo's arms so he could scamper up onto the stool next to his new aunt as she scooped some of the food onto a plate for him.

"I've eaten," Master Splinter said, rising from his stool and reaching for Machi. "Let me take the little sweetheart so you two can eat. I'll feed her."

Leo sat down in his father's empty stool and began digging into his food with chopsticks, content to listen to his brothers joke, his father expertly talk Machi into eating and his long-lost sister sit and talk to his son as if they were already old friends.

He smiled as he felt Raph tug quickly on one of his bandana tails as he sat down next to Leo and dug into his own food as well.


	10. Chapter 10

Leo moved down the line of his little furry students and watched their forms as they moved through a difficult kata. He kept Machi and Miwa, sitting together on one side of the dojo, in the corner of his vision.

Machi giggled as she watched her Aunt Miwa make her dolls form poses similar to what she could see Akito and the bunnies doing. Her other aunts usually cradled the dolls and pretended to feed them with fake bottles. Aunt Miwa not only made the dolls move like Akito but also named off some of the poses as she went.

"Doko – Hicho – Kosei," Miwa said.

Machi giggled again.

Miwa glanced over at Leo and caught him rolling his eyes at her. She ducked her eyes away from him and hid her own smile.

Leo sighed internally. He was still trying to keep Machi off the mats during practice so Miwa wasn't helping by sparking her interest in ninjitsu even more with that type of playing. But considering Miwa had probably never touched a doll before in her entire life, he honestly shouldn't expect anything else. And at least it was keeping Machi entertained.

Leo went back to working with his students before dismissing them early for the day to allow a few minutes of just playtime before the bunnies were picked up. He had recently spent some time in meditation thinking about how he grew up with his three brothers almost constantly and sometimes irritatingly by his side. While Akito and Machi had each other to play with plus a doting grandfather and plenty of aunts and uncles, Leo wanted to make sure they had more time with the bunnies for real play. He and Raphael were still trying to figure out what to do about school for both kids. If they were being raised in their original dimension, they would've just gone to a normal school and had plenty of other kids to play with there as well. But that wasn't a possibility in this world.

His thoughts were interrupted when Usagi entered the dojo and he met up with his old friend to review their progress before saying goodbye to the bunnies.

Seeing the rabbits leave, Miwa hugged her little niece and complimented Akito on his kata before she headed towards Leo.

"Where are you off to today?" Leo asked her as he began wiping down the weapons they'd used.

"I told Michelangelo I'd help him and Woody on the food truck," she said.

"Well, it has to be more fun than trying to help Donnie in his lab," Leo said.

"It better be," Miwa said. "Donatello wouldn't even let me touch anything. At least Sadie was there to talk to, although she's pretty serious while working down there too."

Leo laughed. "Yeah, sometimes it's better to just back away when the two of them get involved in a project together."

It had been almost six weeks since they'd finished the monster hunt for Winters and so far, Leo had noticed that Miwa had been doing her best to re-assimilate herself into the Hamato clan. She'd left briefly on a short trip back to Japan, which she knew had made Leo _twitchy_ , a term she learned quickly not to say around him, even though it made Raphael laugh. But when she'd first come to New York to meet with Winters, her initial plan was for a brief stay and she hadn't brought enough to be able to just stay forever. So she'd returned to Japan, gathered her things, and officially relocated not only herself but a large number of Foot soldiers to New York City.

And while she enjoyed spending time with her clan family, she politely declined Donatello's offer to turn part of the first floor into an apartment for her. She wasn't sure she was ready for that much family togetherness. So she found an apartment for herself just a few blocks away instead.

And although she wasn't living with them, she did make an effort to just be with them. She got up early and joined them in their dojo for morning practice and was impressed with Leo as lead in training. She noticed a contented air with Leo in his leadership not only with his brothers but also as a sensei to the little children he taught as well. She liked it.

She even worked up the nerve to compliment him on it one day after their morning practice and Raphael had quickly, although playfully, elbowed her and declared that Leo was _taken_.

"Oh, trust me, I know. I see the way you two look at each other. And that's in _public_ ," she replied with a grin. "You do realize the rest of us can see you right?"

" _Thank you_ ," Donatello had huffed out beside her.

And she also liked seeing Leo and Raph with their kids. The foxes were adorable and she couldn't help but grin when she got to spend time with them. But more than that, she couldn't help but grin at the way the Leo and Raph doted and worried over them. Or the adoring way Akito and Machi looked back at them in return.

After morning training she'd head to her father's apartment next door and have breakfast with him. On some days she'd return to the dojo and play with Machi while Leo taught Akito and the bunnies. She'd also made her way down to the Hamato-Jones garage where she got a tour from April and Casey and a growl from Raphael for moving some of his tools. She'd hung out with Donatello and Sadie in their lab and had even been dragged out for her first ever girls' night with Sadie and April. It was probably an unusual girls' night considering April's pregnancy meant she'd been ready for bed by 8 pm, but Miwa had appreciated their efforts and she had nothing to compare it to anyway. And the three of them did declare that night that since they were overwhelmingly outnumbered by males in the clan, that they would make their nights out a regular event.

Most evenings found her back in her father's apartment. They spent the first few weeks playing catch up. She told him what she'd been doing in Japan while she was away and he filled her in on some of the other events that the clan had been through in the past six years. Eventually it led to other discussions of the past as she was finally comfortable enough to ask him to tell her stories about her mother. It had quickly become her favorite time of the day.

Miwa had also rented a space for a new Foot headquarters in the city where she and other elite soldiers led training, met to discuss patrols and reviewed progress. After spending some time within the new lives that the turtles had built for themselves, she was certain that she'd made the right choice in relocating the Foot. The turtles went out on patrols with them a couple times but it had been a few weeks since any of them had joined them. And overall, she could sense a feeling of relief from Leonardo that after a ten year run, he and his brothers were no longer in charge of the well-being of all the citizens of New York, which meant he and Raph could focus on being responsible for the well-being of her adorable niece and nephew. For now at least. She was pretty sure when the kids were older, that would change.

"Come say goodbye to your Aunt Miwa and wish her luck. She's heading out on Uncle Mike and Uncle Woody's food truck today," Leo said over his shoulder to the kids.

"It gets hot in there!" Akito said.

"Says the little boy covered in fur," Miwa teased back. She hugged both foxes and headed downstairs to see what food prep was left before helping Mikey and Woody load the truck.

* * *

Leo startled awake and froze. He wasn't sure why he was prone to nightmares, and although he didn't have them nearly as frequently as he had when he was a teenager under the influence of mushroom toxins, he still had them more frequently than anyone else in his family.

He found himself pressed into Raph's side with one of Raph's arms wrapped around his shell. Raph wasn't just _not_ prone to nightmares, Leo couldn't even think of a single time that Raph had ever had one, for which Leo was thankful. He wouldn't want Raph to suffer through them. It was bad enough that his nightmares always woke Raph up from his own sleep.

Leo looked up to Raphael's face and wasn't surprised when Raph's eyes opened a moment later and looked down at him.

"What was it?" Raph whispered to him.

Leo ignored the question and instead just stared at Raph's green eyes. "Did you know that I can always see your eyes in the dark?" he whispered back. "They shine, like a light. You're my light in the dark, Raphael. You always have been. You always will be."

Raphael stared down at him for a moment before his other hand reached over to slide down the side of Leo's face. He gripped Leo's chin and raised his face higher so he could kiss him, then let go of him so he could sit up and pull Leo up with him.

"Come on," Raphael whispered, climbing out of the bed. He grabbed the baby monitor with one hand and Leo's hand with the other and pulled him out of the apartment and over to the elevator.

Leo followed without asking questions and a few moments later they were walking into the second floor lab. It wasn't where he'd expected Raph to drag him and he finally asked what they were doing.

"I have a surprise for ya," Raph said, moving through the dark to one of the lab corners. "And since yer in such a sappy mood, I may as well give it to you now."

Leo smirked at him and sat on the stool Raph pulled out for him. "Does Donnie know about this?"

"Yes," Raph said, opening a cabinet and pulling out a box. "Don saw that R symbol I drew on yer arm before. And since there's no way he was gonna find a wedding band big enough for his finger, he thought he could mark his finger with the letter S as a gift for Sadie instead." He popped the box open and removed what looked like an ink pen. He looked back to Leo and grinned. "But he didn't think a tattoo would work on the texture of our skin." Raph handed the pen to Leo and watched him turn it over in his fingers. "It's an ink Donnie created that will be permanent on our skin. Don showed it to me once he was finished because he thought I might like to _borrow_ it."

Leo grinned up at him and handed the pen back.

"Yer sure about this? Cause its not comin off," Raph teased. "Yer gonna be stuck with it. And me." He'd barely had time to brace himself as Leo sprung up from the stool and kissed him hard, pushing his tongue into Raph's mouth before grabbing hold of Raph's shoulders.

After a few moments, Raph pushed Leo back down on the stool and grinned at him before he pulled an alcohol wipe from the cabinet and cleaned a section of Leo's upper arm. He leaned forward and blew on it to help it dry faster and could only grin wider as he watched Leo shiver under the attention.

Raph pulled up another stool and sat himself down next to Leo. Leo smiled as Raph's leg brushed against his leg and then he watched as Raph's eyes narrowed in on his arm. Raph took a deep breath and then lifted the pen to Leo's arm. Leo looked away and waited until Raph was finished before looking back and admiring the capital R symbol on his arm.

"Look ok?"

Leo smiled a wide, dorky grin back at him and leaned forward from his stool to kiss his favorite turtle again. "Perfect, Raph."

"Good," Raph said, a self-satisfied smile on his face. He reached up and grabbed another alcohol wipe and cleaned a spot on one of his upper arms. "Cause now it's my turn." He handed the pen over to Leo and looked at him expectantly.

"Are you going to give up the blue bandana?"

"Nope," Raphael said. "But one day that thing will turn to dust and I'll still have this."

"You really are a thoughtful turtle, Raph."

"Shaddup," Raph said, mock scowling at him. "My arm's waitin."


	11. Chapter 11

"This one?"

Leo laughed. "No way she'll dress up like a princess after she refused to wear that flower girl dress at Donnie's wedding."

"Not even if she saw the tiara?"

Leo laughed again and trailed his hand over the back of Raph's neck, unknowingly sending a shiver down Raph's spine.

"What are you thinking?" Raph asked, voice husky as he turned to Leo.

"There's an elephant."

"Pass."

"Or a fairy."

"Too close to the princess."

"Ladybug?"

"No bugs, man."

"There's a pirate. She'd get to carry a plastic sword."

"Sure that's a good idea?"

"Maybe we wouldn't give her the sword," Leo conceded. "But look how cute the hat is."

"We'd have to make holes for her ears."

"And one for her tail," Leo said, eyeing the pants that came with the costume as well.

"Alright," Raph said, shrugging as he picked one up close enough to Machi's size. They would have to make modifications to any costume they picked up for the kids anyway. "Think anyone will think it's strange when they see what they think is a kid dressed up like a fox _and_ something else?"

"Nah, they'll just think they couldn't decide on a costume. Besides, we always dressed up when we went out trick-or-treating as kids. And Akito's excited about this Captain America costume," Leo said, looking down at the costume they had already picked up for their son.

They continued to move through the dark department store in search of trick-or-treat bags and, as requested by Mikey, giant bags of candy and more fake spider webs.

"Is Akito excited about the Captain America costume or is he excited because the other bunnies, especially _Violet_ , are goin trick-or-treatin with us too?"

Leo laughed. "I don't think there's anything wrong with a childhood crush." He grabbed Raph's wrist and spun him towards him before greedily covering Raph's mouth with his own. He twisted his tongue with Raph's and started pressing his weight against him to move him backwards. "Do you?"

Raph shook his head and moved with him willingly. He moaned when Leo's mouth moved to his jawline and then down into his neck. Leo licked and bit his way across Raph's neck as he continued to push him backwards.

Leo grinned into Raph's neck when he spotted what he was looking for. With a final shove, Raph landed on his shell on one of the beds set up for bedding display. Leo climbed on top of him a moment later and licked his way up Raph's plastron as his hands followed along up Raph's sensitive sides. He covered Raph's mouth again and sucked Raph's lower lip into his mouth as he rested his weight onto his hands pressed into Raph's biceps, churring as he pressed the emerald turtle down further into the mattress.

Raphael loved Leo like this, all frenzied and desperate for something that only Raphael could give him. Something that he knew Leo only wanted from _him_. He felt one of Leo's knees press between his legs, shoving his thighs apart to make room for Leo's own strong legs to settle between them. One of Leo's hands moved down to lift up one of his thighs and Raph's breath hitched as he felt Leo's fingers slowly slide down that thigh to grasp and pull on his tail. He churred in turn into Leo's mouth and pulled on Leo's shell to pull him closer.

Raph's hands slid down Leo's front, determined to tease Leo as well, but his hands were batted away and Leo only grinned at him before moving down his body to lick and suck at Raph's slit until Raph had no choice but to drop down and churr loudly as Leo's mouth covered him. It took him a few moments to realize Leo's fingers were now teasing his entrance as well and he released a moan when one of those fingers pressed into him.

Leo churred as his tongue moved leisurely over Raphael as he worked on stretching his entrance. He worked slowly with his mouth and his fingers as he monitored Raph's uneven breathing. He had no intention of letting him finish any time soon. He breathed in Raph's scent and thought about how easy it would be to stay right here with him all night. About how much he loved any and all moments they could find to be together.

Leo ignored Raphael's whine when he released him from his mouth in order to crawl back up Raph's body. He grasped emerald wrists and pinned them above Raph's head on the bed before sliding himself gently into Raphael. Leo pressed forward eagerly, shaking in anticipation of being completely encased in that warm tunnel as he listened to Raph groan out in pleasure as he raised his hips to meet Leo.

Leo watched as Raphael began to writhe beneath him, his arms twitching under Leo's tight grip, his eyes squeezed shut and his mouth hung open. Leo had every sound that had ever escaped Raphael memorized and he smiled now as he listened to the moans echo off the walls of the dark department store.

Raphael heard Leo whisper "Raphie" and he opened his eyes and locked them with Leo's lust-filled blue eyes because he knew that's what Leo wanted and he'd honestly do anything Leo wanted as long as he kept pounding him into this mattress. He watched Leo smile at him before leaning down to kiss him and letting his own eyes slide shut.

Leo grinned through their kiss and pulled himself almost all the way out of Raphael before he paused there and waited for those green eyes to open again.

"What do you want, Raph?" he teased.

Raphael growled at him before he began to fight against his arm restraints and shamelessly thrust his hips up towards Leo.

"You, Leo," Raphael finally said in a loud whisper. "I always want you."

Raph watched Leo's eyes go from teasing to serious as he slid fully back into Raphael and let go of the pinned emerald hands so he that he could place one hand on the side of Raph's face.

"I'll always want you, too. Always, Raphie."

Raphael moved one of his now free hands to the back of Leo's neck and gripped it possessively and whispered back, "Aishiteru, Leo," before pulling his face down to kiss again. "But, Fearless, if you don't get back to work, I will toss you under me and go to work myself."

Leo smirked and leaned his face forward so he could bite into Raph's neck, pulling a loud moan from Raphael. "I love you too, hothead." He began to thrust his hips quickly, his former determination to move slowly now completely gone as the churrs and moans from Raphael spurred him on to move faster, harder, deeper. He moved a hand down to Raphael's length and began stroking him as well, flicking his wrist when he reached the tip exactly the way he knew Raph liked and it wasn't long before Raph threw his head back and shouted curses at the display set up behind them.

Leo grinned as he watched Raphael spasm beneath him. He didn't have long to admire the sight before Raph's tight muscles squeezed him back into his own world of pleasure as he churred and pushed his face back into Raph's neck where he grabbed hold of skin with his teeth as his own body jerked through his release.

Leo collapsed his limp body down on Raph's plastron and they stayed like that as their breathing returned to normal. Raph nudged Leo after a few long moments of inactivity, checking to see if he'd actually fallen asleep. But Leo lifted his head, rested his chin on Raph's plastron and smiled lazily up at him. Raph decided he was content to stay there, with Leo's solid weight on top of him, and wait for Leo to decide when they would move again. He smiled back at Leo and lifted his hand to trace over his mark on Leo's arm. Eventually, Leo did push himself up off Raphael and then helped pull him up off the display bed as well.

They kissed where they stood and Raph looped his fingers into one of Leo's hands before they moved through the store again to head back towards the Halloween section.

"Why do we have to pick up trick-or-treat bags? We used pillowcases," Raphael said, thinking about how much more candy a pillowcase could hold compared to the selection in front of them.

"April said they'll look like hobos if we let them use pillowcases."

Raphael huffed out a laugh. He started pulling trick-or-treat bags down, enough for the bunnies as well, and stuffed them into one of the bags they'd brought with them. "So did you tell Miwa that the Foot are not invited on this family outin?"

"Yes," Leo said, sighing. "I did tell her."

"But?"

"But I have a feeling there will be a few Foot trailing us on the rooftops of our trick-or-treating route."

"Good grief," Raph said.

"She just wants her niece and nephew watched over while we're out."

"She knows we'll be there, right? We're not just sendin em out by themselves. They _already_ have ninja guardians," Raph muttered.

"She's just very protective," Leo said, grinning at Raph's scowl.

"Sounds like some other over-protective, older sibling I know," Raph said, squeezing Leo's hand.

Leo laughed again. "That _may_ be why I didn't argue with her over it."

"Fine. But they're outta there as soon as the kids notice. And you know Akito is going to notice right away."

"Deal," Leo said, pulling Raph close again to kiss him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The End. The next story in the series is called "Replacement" and its one of my favorites.


End file.
